Newsletter 2

Hello everyone!

Here we are with the second periodic update on our project. We are making great progress and would like to share the latest news with you.

Cable in the sea

First test of the new system

On October 2, the CNR, RISE and University of Alcalá successfully conducted the first operational test of the portable DAS system on subsea cables, a major milestone for its real-world deployment. As part of the project’s marine monitoring activities, the DAS system has now been installed at the CNR-IAS Experimental Marine Station in the Port of Genoa. This innovative system developed by the University of Alcalà allows for continuous monitoring of changes in the shape and curvature of a 30-meter NKT fiber-optic cable, which has been deployed in a catenary configuration with a maximum depth of 5 meters. 

The deployment represents the first time that portable DAS technology is being tested under real operational conditions at sea. It is designed to provide detailed information about how the cable responds to environmental forces, such as currents and waves, as well as the effects of marine fouling over time. 

With the testing phase now underway, researchers are collecting valuable data to better understand the dynamics of subsea cables in real conditions. These insights will not only help assess the performance and reliability of DAS technology but also provide guidance for its future applications in marine infrastructure monitoring, ensuring safer and more efficient operations.

The DAS system and the cable for installation in the sea

The consortium at project meeting at Geico

 Project meeting in Milan The annual Seasnake+ in-person event featured two intensive days of collaboration on 6 and 7 October at the Geico and Greensailor headquarters in Milan, bringing together the companies, universities, and research centers involved in the project. The meetings included updates, collaborative sessions, and in-depth discussions on the project’s development— from Greensailor’s foul-release paint for medium-voltage cables to Geico’s application system and Aeffe’s cleaning system, developed with the collaboration of CNR. The event was an excellent opportunity to review the progress achieved so far and to reinforce our shared commitment to an offshore industry that is increasingly sustainable, efficient, and innovative.

... and we are getting closer and closer to our goal!

Trying out the cleaning validation on cable pieces without surface protection

New methods to validate our cleaning strategies One of our most important goals with Seasnake+ is to minimize environmental impact and extend the lifespan of the cables. The developed paint is environmentally friendly and designed to be easy to clean, which should help simplify the maintenance of the cables and increase their lifespan. Our seas contain both soft fouling such as slime and algae, etc., as well as hard fouling, such as barnacles and tube worms. Hard fouling is often dominant on the Swedish west coast and is the most difficult to remove. RISE is looking at a methodology to evaluate and compare the cleanability of different types of fouling. The starting point is an unpainted section of a cable that has been in the water for a certain period of time, cleaned with a certain pressure and using three different types of brushes. One of the brushes is made of coconut fibres, just like the brushes in the cleaning robot that will be developed in the project.  The tests can contribute to understand the problem of cleaning fouling while providing a basis for comparisons between different test stations. The samples can be examined visually and the results can be compared with results from the same type of cable but painted with the newly developed paint. In addition to visual inspection, what is scraped off during cleaning can also be analysed and compared. Through this new method, we hope to validate an important part of Seasnake+.