Piracy no fear for Eassy

By Paul Vecchiatto, ITWeb Cape Town correspondent

Cape Town, 29 Jun 2009

Piracy holds no fear for the East African Submarine Cable System (Eassy), as it has factored it into its plans.

The latest African telecommunications link is still set to become operational by June 2010.

“All issues to do with laying of the submarine cable, such as piracy protection, have been factored into our project plan rather than left to last-minute occurrence, as piracy has been an issue for some time now,” says James Wekesa, chief commercial officer of the West Indian Ocean Cable Company (WIOCC), a major Eassy shareholder.

Last week, the privately-funded Seacom undersea cable venture - which is also laying an East Coast cable - said it had to delay its operational launch date by a month, until the end of July. This was due mainly to the activities of Somali pirates, who have been plaguing the area where its cable-laying ship has had to transverse.

However, Seacom's reason for the delay holds no water for Wekesa, who says: “We are made to understand that they may also be facing other challenges.”

As part of its cable-laying plans, the WIOCC says the first section of the Eassy submarine cable - the Maputo shore-end - has been loaded and is now on course for Mozambique.

The 40km separate shore-end cable for Maputo was loaded onto a freighter in Calais, France. The cable was loaded on 22 June and the ship is on course for the Eassy landing point at Maputo, Mozambique.

Maputo is unique (for Eassy) as it requires a separate shore-end cable. This is where a special ship is needed to land the cable due to shallow water. Once it arrives in Maputo, the shore-end cable will be transferred onto a barge and will be installed during August and September. There is also a “land cable” - the cable that runs between the landing station and the beach manhole - which will also be shipped out and installed soon.

WIOCC CEO Chris Wood says construction and fitting out of the Eassy landing stations is progressing well, the marine survey is complete and manufacture of the main submarine trunk is under way.

“Loading of the trunk cable will start in August, followed by the cable lay itself. We expect Eassy to be ready for service in June 2010, and we are already engaging in dialogue with potential customers,” Wood says.