Created with the world’s best technology to enable work 6,000m under the sea
Korea’s first localized product with shorter delivery period and lower price than overseas competitors
Developing a cutting-edge products, such as oil & gas cablesLC cable & System (President: Koo Ja-eun) said on April 9 that it successfully developed the umbilical cable for the first time in Korea that can be used for exploring and developing deep sea resources.
The umbilical cable is an essential product for developing sea floor resources that can supply power to unmanned remotely operated vehicles (ROVs), and operator robot arms, sensor and camera by controlling communication data and various signals.
And, as a combination cable consisting of 4.5Kv and 3.3Kv power cables and 2 optical fiber cables, it can tolerate adverse conditions, such as high water pressure and irregular currents in deep sea, enabling it to operate on the see floor as deep as 6,000 meters.
Following the United States, France and Japan, Korea developed a ROV that can explore mineral resources in the 6,000 meter-deep sea and conduct polar studies in 2007, but is has been importing umbilical cables from Europe and the Untied States. Having developed such cable, LS cable & System now can supply its products to customers in Korea in a shorter period for competitive prices compared to competitors in other countries.
According to Korea Institute of Ocean Science & Technology (KIOS), many countries are competing to develop sea floor resource as natural resources on land are being exhausted. And Korea has obtained right of exploration for 4 deep sea mining lots in total area of 112, 000 kilometers where it will start to mine minerals in 2014.
Demand for sea floor mineral exploration and development facilities will be expected to increase from 620 in 2011 to about 1,000 in 2015, and demand for umbilical cables and related system is expected to increase accordingly.
Executive Director Kim Dong-uk (Executive researcher at product technology research institute) at LS Cable & System said, “Since it established a plant in Donghae in 2009, the company has steadily been beefing up capability of developing marine cables and it is equipped with sufficient production facilities. To meet diversified sea floor operation environments and demand of customers, the company will develop umbilical cables for boring deep sea oil fields and other products to aggressively make inroads into the global market, including Europe and North America, as well as Korea.”