New Platform that Can ‘Identify Suspicious Activities’ Launches to Safeguard On- and Offshore Cables

March 20, 2025, by Nadja Skopljak

Denmark-headquartered power cable manufacturer and installation company NKT has launched an integrated monitoring platform to safeguard offshore and onshore cables and support their continuous operation by identifying and mitigating potential threats, including fishing accidents and deliberate damage.

Designed for both offshore and onshore cables with fibre-optics, the platform integrates multiple sensors and combines technologies to provide a comprehensive overview of power cable conditions, aiming to make power cable grids more reliable, NKT said.

It combines data from various sensors and technologies, such as vessel location, acoustic sensing around the cable, depth of burial of the cable under the seabed, and conductor temperature. By integrating and analysing this together, the platform can identify suspicious activities, such as vessels passing slowly, fishing equipment or anchors being pulled near the cable, and other risks that could lead to cable damage.

According to NKT, when one or more parameters exceed predefined thresholds, the platform triggers an alert helping those monitoring the cable to take potential remediation actions and strengthen the grid’s resilience.

The solution also includes features that provide cable owners with detailed information about how the cable is performing, as well as documentation, information from marine survey inspections, current stockpiling status of spare parts, and notifications for replacing parts nearing expiry.

“Our new cable monitoring platform represents a significant advancement in ensuring the reliability and safety of power cables. By integrating multiple sensors into a single platform, we can provide situational awareness and proactive monitoring, which is crucial for maintaining up-time and preventing damage”, said Stefan Persson, Director of Cable Monitoring Solutions, Service & Installation at NKT.

“Our solution enhances the ability to monitor and safeguard power cables but also helps cable owners prepare for and mitigate potential failures. Reducing outage times for a cable includes readiness in case a critical situation occurs. On a practical level, it can be crucial that the cable owner has access to relevant spare parts if a cable is damaged.”

The system combines and creates alerts based on multiple data points, including distributed acoustic sensing (DAS), distributed temperature sensing (DTS), automatic identification system (AIS) and depth of burial (DoB).