SMART CABLE REPAIR

Otago Daily Times, Issue 20006, 25 January 1927, Page 6

SMART CABLE REPAIR

PACIFIC BOARD’S STEAMER. FAULT PROMPTLY LOCATED. (Special to Daily Times.) AUCKLAND, January 24. Smart cable repairing work was carried out by the Pacific Cable Board’s steamer Iris which returned to Auckland yesterday morning after repairing a fault in the Aus-tralian-Tasmanian cable. The Ins _ sailed from Auckland on January 5, and six and a-half days later the vessel called at Williamstown and took on board 10 miles of Type B cable. She then proceeded to a position 18j miles off Low Head, Tasmania, where the fault in the cable was estimated to be. , ; On reaching that position the accuracy of the navigators on board was shown by the fact that the first drag with the grapnels in 40 fathoms of water hooked the cable, which was then hoisted to the bow of the Iris and tested. The first tes showed that the Tasmanian end of the cable was in good order. A test was then made of the Australian portion of the cable, and •so accurate had the estimate of the shore cable operators been that the fault was found to bo within a quarter of a mile of the spot where the Iris was anchored. The cable was then cut and the Tasmanian portion dropped overboard attached to a buoy. The cable connected with Australia was then lifted on board the Iris until the faulty portion was reached. The damaged cable was cut away and the end of the new cable on board was spliced on in its, place. Paying out new cable the Ins returned to the buoyed end of the Tasmanian cable, which was taken on board and splicet. to the required length of the new cable, which measured 1.1 nautical miles. The total time taken to locate and repaii the cable was only 11 working hours. Afterwards cho Iris returned to Williamstown and landed the surplus portion of the new cable taken on board. Fine weather pro vailed throughout the voyage.