TAT-8 transatlantic cable is recovered for recycling

Laid in the late 1980s, the TAT-8 transatlantic cable represented a watershed moment in telecommunications history. More than three decades after carrying the first fibre-optic data between Europe and the United States, this trailblazing infrastructure is now being brought up from the deep for recycling.

The TAT-8 cable is recovered off Portugal

Off Portugal’s coast, a chapter of internet history is slowly being removed from the seabed. The MV Maasvliet, chartered by Subsea Environmental Services, is currently retrieving TAT-8, regarded as the first transatlantic fibre-optic cable. Installed on 14 December 1988 by AT&T, British Telecom and France Telecom, the system transformed communications by replacing copper with light pulses capable of carrying far greater volumes of data.

At the time, it seemed like science fiction. From New York, author Isaac Asimov spoke by videoconference to audiences gathered in Paris and London, hailing “an inaugural voyage across the sea on a beam of light”. The symbolism was powerful: for the first time, the Atlantic was crossed by a cable designed for fibre optics. Its success came swiftly. Reaching capacity in under eighteen months, TAT-8 proved the immense promise of the technology and paved the way for the thousands of modern cables that now form the invisible backbone of the global network.

Yet this technological relic did not endure without setbacks. After suffering a fault that was too expensive to repair, the cable was taken out of service in 2002. It is now being raised to the surface.

A technically demanding recovery operation

Recovering a cable laid several kilometres below the surface is, unsurprisingly, no simple task. Technicians must pinpoint every section, catch the line using grapnels and gradually lift it aboard, where it is coiled by hand to prevent damage to the glass fibres. Storms and heavy swells make the work even harder: during this operation, the vessel has already had to change course because of an early cyclone season.

Strategic value and material recycling

The operation also carries significant strategic importance. Despite their fibre-optic components, these installations still contain substantial amounts of high-quality copper, a metal the International Energy Agency expects could face a shortage within the next decade. The steel will be reused, while the polyethylene sheath will be processed into recycled plastic.

It is worth remembering that cables carry almost all intercontinental traffic. Although satellite use is increasing, satellites remain well behind in terms of capacity and reliability for large-scale data transfers. TAT-8 is only one example: of the roughly 2 million kilometres of cables decommissioned worldwide, most still lie on the ocean floor. Recovering them creates room for new lines, ready to support an internet with ever-growing bandwidth demands.