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Repair ship set to arrive today
The ship set to repair the undersea fiber optic cable between Saipan and Tinian is scheduled to arrive today, Thursday, IT&E sales and marketing manager Hans Mickelson said.
“We are still set for tomorrow,” Mickelson said yesterday. “Hopefully, it didn’t hit any inclement weather and it will show tomorrow and we can start to begin.”
The ship, heading from Taiwan, was originally scheduled to arrive Wednesday, July 22, after departing Taiwan at 10pm last Thursday. When it does arrive, IT&E is expected to load the vessel with equipment needed for repair and begin right away on this process.
Depending on the initial investigation, identifying the “break” location, and the type of break, IT&E expects a potential 48-hour repair timeline.
Mickelson said once the “splice” is fixed, Internet speeds would be back to normal.
“It’s going to be night and day,” he said.
Meanwhile, the Internet speeds users experience will be the capacity they will experience in the interim until IT&E gets the cable fixed.
IT&E has not yet located the area of damage to the fiber optic line after hiring divers to inspect the line last week. Dives ceased last Wednesday.
Two weeks ago, damage to IT&E’s fiber optic line caused a massive network communications outage in the CNMI.
