Deliver Your News to the World

Alcatel’s cable ship certified for catastrophic oil spill recovery by the European Maritime Safety Agency


WEBWIRE

Paris, September 14, 2006 – Alcatel (Paris: CGEP.PA and NYSE: ALA) today announced that the “Ile de Bréhat” cable ship has successfully passed the European Maritime Safety Agency (EMSA) inspection process and has been accredited to perform maritime environmental protection activities. The Ile de Bréhat – a 140-meter cable ship designed to carry out cable maintenance, cable installation and other related offshore duties – has a specialized tank, which can be used for stand-by oil spill recovery services. The Ile de Bréhat is jointly owned by Alcatel and Louis Dreyfus Armateurs, who operates the vessel.

EMSA provides technical and scientific assistance to the European Commission and member states for the development and implementation of European Union legislation on maritime safety, vessel pollution, as well as on-board vessel security. Its activity consists in auditing the Community-recognized classification societies, developing a common methodology to investigate maritime accidents and establishing a vessel traffic monitoring and information system.

The Ile de Bréhat, designed to operate in heavy seas, has anti-roll tanks, high specification engines, and a dynamic positioning system. Its oil recovery equipment includes primary and secondary systems. The primary system utilizes two rigid, sweeping arms and an adjustable skimmer with an integrated positive displacement Archimedes screw pump. The secondary system uses an integrated personal digital assistance (PDA) computer and two thrusters for remote positioning. Other equipment includes discharge pumps with a hot water current radial system, an oil/water separator and a slick detection system. The cable ship is also able to deploy remotely operated vehicles.

The Ile de Bréhat is contracted to the Atlantic Cable Maintenance and Repair Agreement (ACMA), a cooperative non-profit arrangement consisting of more than fifty telecommunications companies. ACMA provides at-sea maintenance services for the vast majority of undersea telecom cables crossing the Atlantic Ocean.

“This project is an excellent example of creating cross-industry synergies to serve the community,” affirmed William Kolb, Chairman of ACMA. “ACMA is proud to work with EMSA on oil pollution response, contributing to the effectiveness of environmental policies being put in place to preserve maritime quality.”

“Today, protection of the environment is key. We are proud to have developed, together with EMSA, adaptations to an extremely powerful ship to enable quick reaction and limit the consequence of an oil spill disaster,” said Jean Godeluck, President of Alcatel’s submarine network activity. “This new achievement confirms Alcatel’s commitment to actively participate in the improvement of environmental protection, making available one of the most powerful cable ships sailing the oceans.”

About ACMA
Since 1965, the ACMA has been meeting the needs of its members, who are some of the world’s largest and most experienced telecommunications providers. In addition to the Ile de Bréhat, the ACMA has several other specially equipped cable ships under contract, thereby assuring its members immediate response times by specially equipped ships and specially trained crew no matter where a fault should occur. Visit us at www.acmaweb.net or contact the Chairman at wkolb@att.com .

About Alcatel
Alcatel provides communications solutions to telecommunication carriers, Internet service providers and enterprises for delivery of voice, data and video applications to their customers or employees. Alcatel brings its leading position in fixed and mobile broadband networks, applications and services, to help its partners and customers build a user-centric broadband world. With sales of EURO 13.1 billion and 58,000 employees in 2005, Alcatel operates in more than 130 countries. For more information, visit Alcatel on the Internet: http://www.alcatel.com

Contact press@alcatel.com



WebWireID20278





This news content was configured by WebWire editorial staff. Linking is permitted.

News Release Distribution and Press Release Distribution Services Provided by WebWire.