Orange Debuts €50 Million Ship to Fix Undersea Internet Cables
- The proliferation of cables leaves repair ships in hot demand
- The Sophie Germain has a subsea robot and pastry chef on board
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French telephone carrier Orange SA christened a new €50 million ($53 million) vessel, the Sophie Germain, strengthening the company’s out-sized role in the business of fixing undersea internet cables when they break.
The 100-meter-long ship is set to complete about one repair mission a month across the Mediterranean, Red and Black Seas, for customers including Meta Platforms Inc., Telecom Italia Spa and China Telecom Corp. The ship will help maintain the 70,000 kilometers (43,000 miles) of cable allowing internet traffic to flow between Europe, Africa and Asia.