Taiwanese authorities detain fishy Chinese freighter suspected of cutting undersea Internet cable

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Suspicious 'Hong Tai' freighter had been lurking in the area since Saturday.

'Hong Tai' freighter seized, crew detained
(Image credit: Taiwan's Coast Guard Administration)
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Mark Tyson
Mark Tyson
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18 Comments Comment from the forums
  • bit_user
    IMO, they need some sort of active defense. Like some sort of submersible that can attach floats to an anchor that's being dragged, so that it lifts up off the seabed. Station a few of those near important infrastructure corridors and, when a ship starts navigating in a suspicious way, deploy that thing to check for an anchor drag and intervene.

    It seems like you could also use areal drones to visually check whether ships have their anchors deployed. If they do, another option might be to fly out there in a helicopter and raid the bridge with a SWAT team.
    Reply
  • DougMcC
    bit_user said:
    IMO, they need some sort of active defense. Like some sort of submersible that can attach floats to an anchor that's being dragged, so that it lifts up off the seabed. Station a few of those near important infrastructure corridors and, when a ship starts navigating in a suspicious way, deploy that thing to check for an anchor drag and intervene.

    It seems like you could also use areal drones to visually check whether ships have their anchors deployed. If they do, another option might be to fly out there in a helicopter and raid the bridge with a SWAT team.

    If you can do all that, may as well just trench the cables so anchor dragging wont grab them.
    Reply
  • bit_user
    DougMcC said:
    If you can do all that, may as well just trench the cables so anchor dragging wont grab them.
    I think it's apples & oranges - one capability doesn't imply the other.

    More importantly, they have to protect existing infrastructure, now. Redeploying it all in trenches sounds like an expensive and long-term project that does nothing to help them in the short or medium term.
    Reply
  • DougMcC
    bit_user said:
    I think it's apples & oranges - one capability doesn't imply the other.

    More importantly, they have to protect existing infrastructure, now. Redeploying it all in trenches sounds like an expensive and long-term project that does nothing to help them in the short or medium term.
    IMO if you have a submersible that can catch an anchor, you can build a submersible that can trench an existing cable.
    Reply
  • Kridian
    "Drop your anchor or your family..."
    You know it's going down like that.
    Reply
  • derekullo
    Probably one of the most if not the most monitored waterway on the planet.
    Very ballzy !
    Reply
  • bit_user
    DougMcC said:
    IMO if you have a submersible that can catch an anchor,
    That's not what I said. I said it could attach floats to an anchor. And you only need enough buoyancy to lift it off the sea bed - not all the way to the surface. At those depths, inflating some air bags might do the trick.

    I'm not saying it'd be easy, given that it has to do that while the ship is moving. It was just a sort of off-the-wall idea.
    Reply
  • DS426
    Microwave backup? Those poor birds... lol.

    Fiber internet cable cutting is really starting to make the news now. Guess that's good.
    Reply
  • bit_user said:
    That's not what I said. I said it could attach floats to an anchor. And you only need enough buoyancy to lift it off the sea bed - not all the way to the surface. At those depths, inflating some air bags might do the trick. Keep in mind that pressure increases/decreases at a rate of 44psi per 100 ft depth change for the first 1000 feet or so from the surface.
    Not even close. The pressures involved at depth make any such endevour ludicrous as gas bags would rupture (more like explode) in only a few hundred feet or so as the gas expands at decreased depth and pressure.
    bit_user said:
    I'm not saying it'd be easy, given that it has to do that while the ship is moving. It was just a sort of off-the-wall idea.
    Off the wall and in the trash bin is where it belongs.
    Reply
  • bit_user
    ex_bubblehead said:
    Not even close. The pressures involved at depth make any such endevour ludicrous as gas bags would rupture (more like explode) in only a few hundred feet or so as the gas expands at decreased depth and pressure.
    BTW, do you know how long these ship anchor chains usually are? I'm just curious what sorts of depths we might be talking about, here.

    ex_bubblehead said:
    Off the wall and in the trash bin is where it belongs.
    Thanks for the fact-check. I appreciate you sharing your expertise.
    Reply