Critical Underwater Infrastructure (CUI) such as telecommunications or power cables as well as pipelines are essential to global connectivity, yet they remain vulnerable to damage, both accidental and intentional. With recent reports of cable and pipeline disruptions in the Baltic Sea, security around these critical assets is under increased scrutiny.
As highlighted in a recent BBC article, traditional surveillance methods can't provide continuous coverage across the ocean floor. That’s where AP Sensing’s Distributed Acoustic Sensing (DAS) technology steps in.
Turning Cables Into Sensors
DAS transforms existing fiber optic cables into thousands of virtual microphones, detecting disturbances such as nearby vessel activity or anchor strikes in real time. During testing in the North Sea, AP Sensing successfully identified divers, underwater scooters, and anchors dragging along the seabed.
“The acoustic energy traveling through the fiber disturbs the signal—we can measure and identify these events instantly,” says Daniel Gerwig, Global Sales Manager at AP Sensing.
Fast Alerts, Informed Decisions
DAS offers operators early warnings of potential threats, giving them valuable time to respond. It can be added to existing cable networks by using available strands within the fiber, without interrupting data transmission. This makes deployment both efficient and minimally invasive.
