7/3/2022 - Last year, JDR announced plans to build a new high-voltage U.K. cable plant subject to final agreements. That path just got a lot closer to completion when the project was approved by councilors on the Strategic Planning Committee of the Northumberland County Council (NCC).

A press release said that NCC Deputy Council Leader Richard Wearmouth reported that the project has its full support. “We’re absolutely delighted to be welcoming one of the most advanced subsea cable manufacturing facilities in the world into the county. This brand-new facility will focus on renewable energy products and services, which is crucial towards the county’s carbon neutral plans.”

Plans call for construction to begin this year, with the opening set for 2024. It will create up to 207 high-quality local jobs on completion and safeguard 270 jobs at JDR’s existing facilities. Part of the initial project investment, estimated at £130 million, will come from a grant from the BEIS Offshore Wind Manufacturing Investment Support (OWMIS) scheme. JDR and TFK plans to raise the remaining funding with support expected from financial institutions and U.K. Export Finance.

The new facility is the first stage of JDR’s plans to expand its product portfolio to support the growing global renewable energy market, adding high-voltage export and long length array cables to its existing capacity and product capabilities. Further stages of the development could result in over 400 staff working at the site, with supplied products complementing JDR’s existing capacity provided by the company’s Hartlepool and Littleport U.K. manufacturing centers.

When complete, the facility will include a new catenary continuous vulcanization (CCV) line, making it the only facility in the U.K. capable of full start-to-finish manufacturing of high voltage subsea cables for offshore wind farms to support the growing global renewable energy market. It will be located on the 16-hectare site of the former coal-fired Blyth power station in Cambois in the northeast of England. It is set to feature a 47.5-m high vertical laying-up machine tower and a 45-m high CVC tower along with cable testing and storage facilities. Construction is due to start in the third quarter of this year and finish in early 2024.

7/3/2022 -  Etihad Etisalat Company (Mobily) has signed a strategic Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Telecom Egypt to build the first submarine cable system to directly connect the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to Egypt.

Per multiple media reports, the MoU was signed in Riyadh by Eng. Salman Al-Badran, CEO of Mobily, and Adel Hamed, Managing Director, and CEO of Telecom Egypt. The agreement explores various new ways to connect international capacity to Europe in the west, through Telecom Egypt’s network, and to the GCC in the east, through Mobily’s network, which is made possible by expanding the two companies’ networks and connecting them to neighboring countries.

The new cable system aims to meet the rising communication traffic and the large demand for such services between KSA and Egypt.

“By adopting cutting-edge technologies, we continue to expand our infrastructure and scale our capabilities across the KSA and the wider region,” said Salman Al-Badran, CEO of Mobily. “We are confident that our strategic partnership with Telecom Egypt will help achieve our goals.”

The investment allows Prysmian to rapidly transition the Jackson plant to optical cable and increase the production efficiency in other facilities across the region. Prysmian Group North America has 28 manufacturing facilities, eight distribution centers and six R&D centers. The investment also will enable digital inclusion in local communities across North America while supporting the needs of Prysmian’s customers.

7/2/2022 - In 2018, plans were announced for a new fiber-optic cable system from Montréal to Toronto that would include a submarine segment through Lake Ontario between Kingston and downtown Toronto. Per a report at www.subtelforum.com, those plans changed. Below are excerpts from that article about why that happened.

Announced in 2018 as a venture between Metro Optic and Crosslake Fibre along with Utilities Kingston, the Maple Leaf Fibre cable system was to have a terrestrial segment between Montréal, Ottawa, and Kingston, and a submarine segment through Lake Ontario between Kingston and downtown Toronto.

Per a report in Capacity, However, a shortage of cable-laying vessels has led to a change of plans, and now the entire cable system will be terrestrial, running from Toronto via Kingston to Montréal. Crosslake CCO Fergus Innes explained, “Vessel availability [is] one of the reasons we have pivoted from a subsea design to a full terrestrial build on our Maple Leaf Fibre project.”

Earlier this year, the companies were still planning to install the Toronto-Kingston section of the Maple Leaf Fibre on the bed of Lake Ontario. In 2019, Crosslake Fibre laid a cable between Toronto and New York. The cable ship C.S. IT Intrepid had to sail through St. Lawrence Seaway and a series of locks from the Atlantic Ocean to the lake.

The cable lands at Equiix TR2 at 45 Parliament Street and the 151 Front Street West carrier hotel in Toronto, running to Equinix NY4 in Secaucus, New Jersey with an interconnect in Buffalo, New York. It is currently the only cable running under Lake Ontario, and no other cables run under any of the other Great Lakes.

According to the ISCPC, there are around 60 cable ships in the world. According to SubTel Forum’s 2021/2022 Annual Industry Report, no new-build cable ships were delivered between 2004 and 2010 after a glut of investment around the turn of the millennium. Only five ships were delivered between 2011 and 2020.

The report notes that new ships aren’t being added at the same rate older ships are being retired. Only eight ships are younger than 18, with most between 20 and 30 years old. 19 are over 30 years old, and one is over 50.

7/2/2022 - The Ohio Valley Chapter (OVC) has set Sept. 22 as the date for its annual golf tournament, which will also include an educational program, all to be held on the same day.

OVC 2022 will again be held at The Kennsington Club in Canfield, Ohio, which the chapter has used multiple times. Tentative guest speakers include: Ed Harrington of Strecker USA, who will discuss butt welding complexities and solutions; Jeff Danaher of Abbott Furnace, who will discuss annealing problems and practices; Jim Miller of Scientific Forming Technology, who will discuss applications of the DEFORM system in drawing process simulation; Brian Rajotte of OEE Data-Watch, who will discuss automation controls with data acquisition systems; B.J. Austin of Ebner Furnaces, who will discuss furnace issues and solutions; and Tim Moury of Verichek, who will discuss material testing equipment and technology.

Contact John Markowski, 203-458-4044, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or Dave Rascati, 260-750-5736, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

The other two chapter golf tournaments will also be held in September. Up first is the New England Chapter, which will stage its 28th Annual Golf Tournament & Dinner on Monday, Sept. 12, at the Tunxis Country Club in Farmington, Connecticut. Contact: John Markowski, 203-458-4044, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

On Thursday, Sept. 22, the Southeast Chapter will hold its annual golf tournament & dinner at the Rock Barn Country Club in Conover, North Carolina. Contact: John Markowski, 203-458-4044, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

The August issue will have more details on all the tournaments. Registration for all of these golf tournaments is now open at the Association’s online registration system at www.wai.configio.com.

6/3/2022 - South Korea’s Taihan Cable and Solution has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to establish a joint venture (JV) in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

Per a report at www.businesskorea, Taihan Cable and Solution announced that it will establish a joint venture in Saudi Arabia to produce ultra-high voltage cables. It will be the first ultra-high voltage cable plant to be built overseas by Taihan Cable and Solution.

The company is partnering with Mohammed Al-Ojaimi Group, a Saudi Arabian EPC company that specializes in power transmission and distribution. The two companies have secured a factory site in a high-tech industrial complex in Riyadh, the capital of Saudi Arabia, for the construction of the factory. The site is owned by Mohammed Al-Ojaimi Group and is adjacent to Saudi Taihan Cable Co., a subsidiary of Taihan Cable and Solution that produces electric equipment.

Taihan Cable and Solution is planning to expand the market for its 380kV ultra-high voltage cables from Saudi Arabia to the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) region including Qatar and Kuwait, and Europe. The company notes that it currently has five production bases: a cable factory and a power equipment factory in Dangjin, South Chungcheong Province of Korea, an HV cable factory in Vietnam, an MV cable factory in South Africa and an electric equipment factory in Saudi Arabia. It is also building a submarine cable plant in Dangjin and an optical cable plant in Kuwait.

Per Wikipedia, Taihan Cable & Solution was established in 1955 as the first wire and cable company in South Korea. It has a manufacturing plant in Gyeonggi-do and Chungcheongnam-do and a research center in Gyeonggi-do as well as overseas offices in South Africa, Democratic Republic of Congo, Vietnam, Hong Kong, Mongolia, the U.S., Canada, United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand and Australia.