SCOOP--An Improved Submarine Cable Recovery System

For more than twenty years, acoustically controlled, buoyant subsurface arrays have been utilized by research institutions and industry for mooring, location, and retrieval of oceanographic instruments. Submarine telecommunications cable laying and repair operations typically involve location and retrieval of free cable ends left on the seafloor. In deep water areas, conventional methods for cable-end location and recovery included the use of sea buoys and/or deployment of a length of ground rope for retrieval by grappling. Sea buoys are not normally used for extended time periods, in areas of heavy ship traffic, or where unfavorable meteorological conditions are anticipated. Grappling for ground rope at abyssal depths typically requires between 12 and 24 hours for each recovery attempt, often with multiple grappling runs before the rope is hooked. On transoceanic cable laying programs, where multiple shiploads of cable are laid, numerous cable location and recovery operations are undertaken. Burdened with the high per diem cost of cable ships, a more expeditious and economical cable recovery approach was sought by AT&T Communications. In this paper, development and use of a Submarine Cable Offshore Operational Pickup (SCOOP) System is discussed. SCOOP is an acoustically located and released submersible buoyancy system with the capacity of operating in water depths up to 3300 fathoms.