The Léon Thévenin, a floating hero staffed with dedicated engineers, plays a critical role in maintaining Africa's digital infrastructure amidst increasing threats to internet connectivity from external factors.
**Africa's Internet Lifeline: The Léon Thévenin Ship**
**Africa's Internet Lifeline: The Léon Thévenin Ship**
A colossal ship navigates African waters to repair undersea internet cables, preventing connectivity blackouts.
The Léon Thévenin, a football field-sized vessel manned by over 50 skilled engineers and technicians, serves as Africa’s digital savior, ensuring internet continuity across the continent. After a year marked by significant internet outages, including a major disruption that left millions across cities from Lagos to Nairobi grappling with communication failures, the necessity of this ship has become increasingly apparent.
For the past 13 years, the Léon Thévenin has been diligently working to repair undersea cables, often the source of disruptions when damaged. Shuru Arendse, a cable jointer from South Africa, expresses his pride in the ship's mission: "Because of me, countries stay connected. You have heroes that save lives - I'm a hero because I save communication."
With the massive infrastructure of the internet largely dependent on over 600 fibre optic cables, most servers located outside Africa require reliable connections to ensure users can access information and services seamlessly. Benjamin Smith, the ship's deputy chief of mission, emphasizes the importance of these cables, stating, “As long as the servers aren't in the country, you need a connection.”
The ship often faces challenges due to human activity and natural disasters, which can compromise the undersea cables designed to last 25 years with little maintenance. "Most of the time it's people anchoring where they shouldn't and fishing trawlers scraping the seabed," explains Charles Heald, responsible for the ship's remotely operated vehicle (ROV).
Past incidents highlight the vulnerability of these cables; in March 2024, multiple cuts off West Africa caused severe internet blackouts impacting Nigeria and Ghana. Similarly, three critical cables were severed in the Red Sea, affecting connections across East African nations.
Detecting faults in these cables is a critical process. Loic Wallerand, the ship's mission chief, explains, "There may be 3,000 volts in a cable and suddenly it drops to 50 volts, this means there's a problem." The ship responds to alerts within 24 hours, although bureaucratic hurdles can delay action.
The repair process is intricate, involving tasks performed by the ROV, which is deployed to locate and cut damaged sections of the cable. In one recent operation, a repair off Ghana took over a week, but internet users largely remained unaware as traffic was managed via alternate cables.
Life aboard the Léon Thévenin is tough, with crews often away for months at a time. Captain Thomas Quehec notes his crew typically spends over six months at sea each year. Personal sacrifices abound; crew members like Adrian Morgan have missed significant life events, which adds emotional weight to their demanding profession.
Despite the challenges, there exists a sense of camaraderie among the crew, who hail from diverse backgrounds spanning multiple countries. As chief engineer Ferron Hartzenberg eloquently puts it, “We are the link between Africa and the world.” This multifaceted operation continues to underpin Africa's connectivity and thus its economic and social interactions with the globe.
