IT Intrepid - something different

The cable ship IT Intrepid sailed from Halifax August 6 and was upbound on the St.Lawrence this morning (August 9)(and in thick fog) en route to another cable assignment, but with an unusual twist.

Built in 1989 as Sir Eric Sharp the veteran ship has laid, maintained and repaired subsea cables in many parts of the world, but this may be first in fresh water.  Owners IT International Telecom Canada Inc have contracted by Crosslake Fibre to lay 80 km of fibreoptic cable between Toronto, ON and Wilson, NY.  The ship was granted a Coasting Licence to carry out about 4 days of work in Canadian waters, between August 15 and September.

The work will consist of a pre-lay grapnel run to clear the proposed path of any debris such as old nets, chains, wires or even wrecks. Once the route is clear, the ship will deploy an ROV that is in fact a tracked vehicle that is controlled from the ship. The vehicle will trench, place and bury the cable one meter deep in the lake bed. The sub-sea portion will connect with land cable at Ashbridge Bay Park in Toronto and in New York State will also run overland connect to Buffalo.

IT Intrepid , flying the Barbados flag, is nominally based in Halifax, but generally works throughout the North Atlantic. It has carried its present name since 2005 and has been mentioned several times in the past in this blog. Just enter the name "IT Intrepid" in the search box, at left, and those previous references will pop up.

For more information on the cable project, see the application to the Canadian Transportation Agency at:
https://forms.otc-cta.gc.ca/maritime-marine/attach_eng.cfm?id=245218&seq=1

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