Etisalat management recognizes bravery of E-Marine cable repair crews

The 60 E-Marine heroes, including engineers, surveyors and crew, successfully restored internet connection to the region in February, bravely facing the harshest weather conditions including 14-foot tall waves.

The broken Internet cables were fixed in a matter of days following interruptions to service on February 1.

The cuts were extremely severe as many of the Gulf countries rely on submarine cables to provide internet content and international voice transit.

H.E. Mohammad Al Qamzi, CEO at Etisalat said:

'Etisalat was unaffected by the recent cable issue in the Gulf, but many of our peers in the region had their connectivity seriously degraded. I congratulate the crews of the Cable Ships Etisalat and Niwa and recognize that their work was critical to protecting the rapidly expanding economies in the region. The success of their missions highlights Etisalat's commitment and ability to support the industry even in the most trying of circumstances'.

Although the crews were ready to depart on February 1, the same day as the Gulf cables were severed, bad weather and harbour policy meant that both cable ships were unable to leave port until weather conditions were more stable.

Both ships were eventually able to sail on February 4.

H.E. Ali Sharid, CEO at Etisalat Services said: 'I would like to extend my congratulations and deepest thanks to the brave E-Marine teams that were involved in repairing the damaged cables. This was a text-book example of how marine maintenance and repair should be carried out, made even more exceptional by the extreme weather conditions and the time pressure caused by the number of cables that required repair.'

'This was an extremely difficult period for the region's telecommunications industry,' said Omar Bin Kalban, CEO & Managing Director of E-marine PJSC. 'The cuts were extremely serious as many of the Gulf countries rely on submarine cables to provide access to international markets and Internet content. Accordingly, telephone and Internet services were seriously degraded. I would like to thank all the staff that have been involved in this process and am very proud of their extensive efforts and success.'

The first stage in locating the cable was to follow the detailed maps and charts which record where the cables are located.

This brought the crew within several hundred meters of the exact location, from where they began cable repair operations.

Weather conditions had not improved and the crew of the cable ships braved 12-14-foot tall waves, working night and day attempting to isolate the damaged sections.

Once successful, the crews then cut the cable and spliced new sections into the damaged cable.

'E-Marine has a carefully designed contingency plan in place for just such an incident with crews on constant standby. We also store spares in such a way as to support the rapid deployment of missions.' Bin Kalban added.

The 60 E-Marine crew members, made up of engineers and surveyors, were able to complete the mission over several phases.

Cable Ship Etisalat completed its mission and returned to port on February 10, Cable Ship Niwa concluded its mission, with its crew returning to their families on February 14.