Lodbrog

The 'Lodbrog' is set to arrive in Tonga on Aug 6, after a delay in Fiji for over a week, due to an issue with its starboard side propeller. Meanwhile, telephone and internet services to Vava'u and Ha'apai continued to feel the impact of the Tonga domestic submarine cable blackout that has lasted over a month, since it was cut after an earthquake on June 29. The 'Lodbrog', which came from Singapore, had to remain in Fiji while a component, the bearing of the propeller of the ship, was being shipped in. The part arrived in Fiji on July 30 and was due to sail on Aug 4. It was expected to arrive in Tonga on Aug 6 and will go straight to the cable sites. Initially the repair was expected to be completed in July. A new repair timeline is set for mid-August. The repair timeline will take longer if the damaged cables is found to be more than 50 kilometers. The two faults on the cable are located at 73 km and 96 km from Tongatapu. Tonga Cable Ltd. believed the cable was suppressed at 73 km from Tongatapu, while at 96 km, the cable was completely cut.

Nearly a third of Tonga’s population remained without internet access, with restoration expected only by mid-August. Repairs to damaged cables in Ha’apai and Vava’u were hindered when tthe 'Lodbrog', en route from Singapore broke down on July 21, 2024, and has been stuck in Suva for over a week due to a mechanical fault and fishing net entangled in its propeller. The vessel was anticipated to arrive in Tongan waters in just over a week.

France Telecom-Orange is preparing to acquire Alcatel-Lucent's cable assets, people familiar with the matter told Les Echos. The 23 percent state-owned operator's France Telecom Marine subsidiary would secure at least part of the strategic undersea infrastructure to have control over cables entering France. The cable-laying ship division could purchase Alacatel's ships. The transaction would raise between EUR 100 million and EUR 150 million, not enough to solve financial issues for Alcatel-Lucent, which is burning EUR 700 million of cash a year. France's sovereign wealth fund may buy a stake in the Alcatel-Lucent cable manufacturing subsidiary. When Alcatel-Lucent announced a EUR 1.6 billion credit line from Goldman Sachs and Credit Suisse, it said it would be used to raise EUR 1 billion to EUR 1.5 billion from non-core asset sales. The French state owns 3.6 percent of Alcatel-Lucent.