Greater than two months after a lower to a subsea fiber optic cable knocked down web and cell service for North Slope and Northwest Alaska communities, repairs are actually underway off the Arctic coast. However with harsh circumstances and low visibility underwater, it’s nonetheless unknown when service might be restored, mentioned Quintillion President Michael “Mac” McHale.

Sea ice severed a fiber optic cable out of Oliktok Level — west of Prudhoe Bay — in June, inflicting widespread web and cell outages within the area. Communication challenges disrupted emergency response, enterprise and well being companies in these communities.

Broadband supplier Quintillion initially estimated that the repairs would take between six and eight weeks. Nonetheless, the ocean within the space of the breakage stayed ice-bound longer than regular, and the restore vessel was in a position to attain the realm and begin the multimillion-dollar restore solely on Aug. 25, McHale mentioned.

Difficult climate circumstances, lack of visibility and the necessity to dig out the fiber optic cable from beneath the seabed ground are making repairs difficult and time-consuming, McHale advised reporters Wednesday.

The Quintillion subsea fiber community extends about 55 miles out into the ocean from Oliktok Level. The cable is buried beneath the ocean ground — beneath 90 toes of water and about 10 to 12 toes beneath the seabed ground. Whereas the corporate designed the subsea community in order that the cable stays “considerably beneath the historic iceberg depths,” this yr, the ice scouring reached the cable, McHale mentioned.

“We did all the things that we might probably do, you recognize, to construct (the community) to final and, you recognize, sadly, Mom Nature had totally different concepts,” McHale mentioned. “Lo and behold, we had an iceberg that got here by way of and went by way of these depths and took us out.”

To restore the cable, Quintillion needed to await the ice to clear from the breakage space, about 33 miles from Oliktok Level.

Whereas the ice melted both early or on time this yr in all places else alongside the Beaufort Coastline, round Oliktok Level, the ice was thicker and persevered longer, mentioned Rick Thoman, a local weather and climate skilled with the Alaska Middle for Local weather Evaluation and Coverage.

Consequently, the restore vessel couldn’t get to the location of the severed cable earlier than late August.

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Days after the restore vessel arrived on the location, the workforce retrieved the shoreside cable — the cable that runs south from the Beaufort Sea — and ready it for restore, McHale mentioned. Then the crew sealed the cable again up, tied it to a buoy and positioned it again on the seabed ground with beacons so it might be simply situated once more.

“Since then, we began engaged on the seaside facet of the cable, which is proving to be a bit tougher,” McHale mentioned Wednesday. “We’ve been at it for about 10 days or so.”

McHale mentioned that the restore crew must excavate the seabed ground to find the cable. One night time this week, the crew succeeded and introduced the cable as excessive up as 10 toes from the ocean’s floor, however then they dropped the cable and it sank again to the ocean ground, McHale mentioned.

As soon as the crew retrieves the seaside cable, they’ll must deliver the shoreside cable again up and begin repairing the center part. The crew will then join the shoreside cable to the seaside cable with new fiber earlier than setting the cable again down, burying it on the lowest attainable depth and doubtlessly putting concrete revetments excessive of the brand new trenches.

It’s unclear how lengthy the cable retrieval will take, however McHale mentioned he hopes to see the leads to the subsequent few days. After it’s retrieved, Quintillion fiber companies must be restored in about three to 4 days, he mentioned. Suppliers would possibly take extra time to reconfigure their networks, he added.

In case their fundamental plan of action doesn’t work, McHale mentioned the corporate has a number of backup plans — one to retrieve the cable farther north the place the seabed is extra accessible and fewer dense, and one other to rebuild the cable all the best way to that time 55 miles out.

The corporate faces a tough deadline for the repairs: Sea ice is anticipated to return to the realm round mid-October, Thoman mentioned.