SubCom IRIS Subsea Cable Installation Links Iceland and Ireland
On May 23, SubComโs cable installation vesselย CS Durableย landed theย IRIS Subsea Telecoms Cable Systemย at Thorlakshofn beach in Iceland, marking a major step in the SubCom IRIS subsea cable installation. This milestone starts full marine work on a new highโcapacity route that connectivity providerย Fariceย has developed since 2019.
Marine Installation Progress
After the beach landing, CS Durable began laying the cable south from Iceland toward Galway, Ireland. The vessel will work through the summer and plans to complete the final splice and all marine operations by midโAugust 2022. With this schedule, the system stays on track to enter service at the beginning of 2023.
Farice completed a detailed marine survey of the route during 2020 and 2021. SubCom then handled route design, preparation work, and cable manufacturing in 2021 and 2022. During installation, the ship advances at roughly 20 to 200 km per day, using both buried and surfaceโlaid sections along the path from Iceland to Ireland.
Route Design, Burial Depth, and Capacity
Engineers target a burial depth of about 1.5 meters beneath the seabed in water depths up to 1,500 meters. This approach helps protect the cable from fishing gear and anchors and supports longโterm reliability.
IRIS uses a sixโfiberโpair trunk design with a total system capacity of 108 Tbps, so each pair carries about 18 Tbps. The cable spans roughly 1,700 km and connects southwest Iceland toย Ballyloughane Strand in Galway, Ireland. SubCom manufactured the system at its facility in Newington, New Hampshire.
SubCom IRIS Subsea Cable Installation Boosts IcelandโEurope Connectivity
When it enters service in early 2023, IRIS will become the third submarine fiberโoptic cable between Iceland and Europe. It will add capacity and redundancy and deliver lowโlatency performance, with roundโtrip times of about 10.5 ms between Reykjavรญk and Dublin.
Farice, owned by the Icelandic Government, already operates two subsea systemsโFARICEโ1ย andย DANICEโthat connect Iceland to Europe. The new cable increases route diversity and resilience and supports the continued growth of Icelandโs digital economy, cloud and data center activity, and international business environment.
