Another break on telecoms cable

THE SUBSEA telecoms cabling which links Faroe, Shetland and Orkney to the Scottish mainland was damaged again in May – the fourth time in less than year.

The latest break happened on 11 May on a section of Faroese Telecom’s SHEFA-2 cable to the west of Shetland.

Faroese Telecom managing director Páll Højgaard Vesturbú told Shetland News that it did not impact any telecommunications, and that fishing gear was the suspected cause.

The break on the Faroe-Shetland link has since been repaired.

It follows breaks on the same line back in September and October last year.

Later in October 2022 there was also damage to the SHEFA-2 cable to east of Shetland’s South Mainland, which caused significant disruption to telecoms in the isles.

All incidents are believed to be accidents involving fishing vessel gear.

The SHEFA-2 cable runs from Tórshavn to Maywick in Shetland, then from Sandwick onto Orkney and the Scottish mainland.

Meanwhile BP confirmed to Shetland News this week that damage had been caused to the infrastructure of a subsea gas pipeline to the west of Shetland, with fishing gear suspected to be the cause.

In that case there is no risk to the pipeline integrity, with safe operations continuing.