Submarine cable

Submarine cable is a cable wrapped with insulating material and laid on the seabed for telecommunication transmission. Submarine cables include submarine communication cables and submarine power cables. Modern submarine cables use optical fibers as materials to transmit telephone and internet signals. The world's first submarine cable was laid between Britain and France in 1850. The first submarine cable in China was completed in 1988. There are two in total. One is between Chuanshi Island in Fuzhou and Huwei (Freshwater) in Taiwan, 177 nautical miles long; The other is from Anping, Tainan, to Penghu, 53 nautical miles long.

Submarine cable classification

Submarine cables are divided into submarine communication cables and submarine power cables. Submarine communication cables are mainly used for communication services, which are expensive but highly confidential. Submarine power cables are mainly used for underwater transmission of high-power electric energy, and have the same function as underground power cables, but the application occasions and laying methods are different. Because the submarine cable project is recognized as a complex and difficult large-scale project by all countries in the world, and complex technology is applied to environmental exploration, marine physical survey, and cable design, manufacturing and installation, the manufacturers of submarine cable are few in the world, mainly Norway, Denmark, Japan, Canada, the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Italy and other countries, which also provide laying technology in addition to manufacturing.

Use of submarine cable products

Submarine communication cables are mainly used in long-distance communication networks, usually between long-distance islands, cross-sea military facilities and other important occasions. The laying distance of submarine power cable is much shorter than that of communication cable, and it is mainly used for connecting between land islands, crossing rivers or harbors, and connecting drilling platforms or drilling platforms from land. In general, the application of submarine cable to transmit electric energy is undoubtedly more expensive than the same length of overhead cable, but it is often more economical than the use of small and isolated power stations for regional power generation, and has more benefits in offshore areas. In countries with many islands and rivers, such cables are widely used.