On the interference between beamtrawls and submarine telephone cables in the southern North Sea- A way out of the problem

Abstract

Abstract The paper discusses the interference between beamtrawls and submarine telephone cables in the southern North Sea. The developmental history is given of how a simple adaptation was developed to be welded in front of the existing beamtrawl, and of how the shape of new trawl shoes of beamtrawls should be made in order to reduce considerably the heavy damage they cause to the coatings of submarine telephone cables and pipelines. The reason why the number of cable faults increased rapidly in the period 1970–1977 could be correlated with the changes in the shape of trawl shoes and their weight as a result of a rapid increase of the average horse power of the beamtrawls in the same period.