INT: Bad Wx Delays Undersea Repair

Forbes said last week that bad weather is delaying the repair of a major undersea Internet cable serving much of Asia. The cable was damaged during an earthquake near Taiwan on December 26th and many Asian Internet consumers have been affected. Taiwan lost all phone and 40% of U.S.-bound Internet communication that day. Repairs since then have restored 80% of customers in Taiwan but more in China are still suffering without the web.

The Internet Traffic Report rated Asia as a "55" this morning with a downward trend, the lowest in the world (U.S. was 85). Data since December was not available.

The WaveWatch III Forecast Model [JessePedia] from the AccuWeather.com Pro site indicates this morning that weather will be relatively calm this week, but winds of over 35 mph and waves of over 18 feet are possible in the repair area this coming weekend:

Yahoo News has some additional information about how the repair is performed, and The Bangkok Reporter site has a map and additional commentary:

Divers must hook both ends of the ruptured cables from the ocean floor to 1,000 metres below the surface. After connecting the two ends, they must then test the cable before lowering it to the ocean floor. Eight repair ships were sent, and reports suggested that the cables would be fixed within two to three weeks. However, another earthquake measuring 5.2 on the Richter scale shook the same waters on Jan. 17, bringing further damage to the crippled cables. Hong Kong officials forecast that poor weather conditions could delay repairs well into February. The good news is that by 2008, Southeast Asia will no longer rely on the earthquake-prone Luzon Strait and speeds are expected to double between Asia and North America. A new undersea line, named EAC Pacific, will connect the Philippines, Guam, Hawaii, California and Japan, making another outage less likely.