A large vessel off Joss Bay is working on a break in a cross Channel cable that comes ashore at the Broadstairs beach.
Responder is a Cable Layer that was built in 2001 and is sailing under the flag of Marshall Is.
Its carrying capacity is 10144 t DWT and her current draught is reported to be 7 meters. Her length overall is 139.15 meters and her width is 21 meters.
She is at work on the South BT North Sea submarine cable system. The sytem comprises 2 individually distinct branches, North and South. The North branch (Iceni) connects Eastern England (Winterton-on-Sea) to the Netherlands (Callantsoog).
The Southern branch (Mercator) connect South East England (Broadstairs – Joss Bay) to Belgium (Oostende).
The BT North Sea cable system increases telecommunication reliability and diversity between the regions and increases data transmission capacity and speeds.
BT North Sea cable system is privately owned by BT, supplied by SubCom.
