Keeping dragging anchors at bay

Vast networks of vital undersea power and telecommunications cables and energy infrastructure are vulnerable to sabotage and unconventional attacks, as shown by recent incidents in the Baltic Sea. One of the most high-profile of these incidents occurred in December last year, when the Estlink 2 power cable was severed, resulting in Estonia’s losing a significant amount of its power.

The Cook Island-registered tanker Eagle S carrying Russian oil was fingered as the culprit in the ongoing investigation by Finnish authorities, who allege mariners on the ship may have conducted “aggravated criminal mischief” by dragging the vessel’s anchor on the seabed to damage the cable.

Submarine cables carry about 99% of internet data traffic, points out GLDD Offshore Energy senior vice president, Eleni Beyko. “So, when you all are talking wifi being in the cloud, it’s really not; it is in the subsea,” she says.

Ms Beyko’s company is building a subsea rock installation vessel at Hanwha Philly Shipyard in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, for the offshore windfarm market that she believes could also serve to protect critical subsea cable and pipeline infrastructure.

Designed by Ulstein Design and Solutions, the Jones Act-compliant Acadia is the only vessel of its type being built in the US to provide scour protection for offshore wind turbines.

But Ms Beyko says the low-emissions vessel, which can carry 20,000 metric tonnes of rock, could be used to install a rock berm along the length of subsea cables or pipelines to protect them against damage. Covered by an armour layer, the infrastructure would be protected from harsh undersea conditions or potential physical impacts from ship anchors, she says.

And while the vessel was ordered to serve the US offshore wind market, Ms Beyko says GLDD believes Acadia can compete internationally because of its “unique capabilities”. With an optional LEV notation from ABS, the DP-2-class vessel has EPA Tier 4-compliant engines and batteries, and a shore power system to meet strict international greenhouse gas emissions.

“We need to protect infrastructure on the seabed”

Expectations are that the vessel would be delivered either at the end of 2025 or in Q1 2026.

“Oil and gas has a lot of pipelines lying on the seabed,” she notes, “and this vessel will be able to install rock and protect such infrastructure.”

One of the largest American dredging companies, GLDD has been looking to deploy Acadia outside the US in anticipation of a slowdown in the domestic offshore wind market. GLDD has tendered for international rock installation projects for 2026 and beyond.

Ms Beyko was part of a panel discussion at IPF 2025, Virginia Beach, Virginia, that explored the potential for dual-use vessels that can operate in the commercial market, but support defence service and government needs in times of conflict.