The cable repair ship Rodbrog arrive in Tongatapu on the 5th of July to pick up representatives from TCL and MEIDECC before travelling to Ha’apai to the cable location to start the repair. The ship will relay 110 to 120km of cables to replace the cable damaged by the 2021 tsunami. The repair operation is estimated to take around 7 to 10 days. The repair operation takes longer because it will first recover the northern end of the cable (near Ha’apai) and mark it with a buoy before returning to Tongatapu to recover the southern end of the cable and start relaying the new cable.
Update 6 July 2023:
The ship arrived in Ha’apai and start recovering the northern end of the cable. The cable was successfully recovered and brought on board the ship for testing before being lowered back into the seabed and marked with a buoy. The ship then returned to Tongatapu.
Update 7 July 2023:
The ship arrived in Tongatapu and start recovering the southern end of the cable. The cable was brought up on board the ship for testing and jointed with the new cable and the ship started relaying the new cable early morning July 8th.
Update 11 July 2023:
The ship reached the buoy early morning and the buoy was recovered and then the cable. The final portion of the new cable was relayed and then both ends of the cable were tested, and 犀利士
prepared for joint, jointing and final testing. When all parties are satisfied with the cable performance, it will be lowered back to the seabed. This process is estimated to be completed around 10 PM. The ship will travel back to Nuku’alofa to drop the representatives on board before travelling to its next destination.
Update 12 July 2023:
Submarine cable to Vava’u and Ha’apai is operational and the customer’s reps were dropped off at Nuku’alofa at 7:00 AM.