Submarine Cable project consultancies DPS

This DPS concerns consultancies relating to Polar Connect step 1. Polar Connect is a submarine fiber cable project with a shortest route between and East Asia starting from Norway going north of Greenland to North America and onwards to Asia. The cable is intended to be a hybrid cable that will support generic telecommunications connectivity, as well as supporting research using smart cable technologies. The Polar Connect step 1 runs for 3 years from January 2025 to December 2027 and is aimed to achieve several objectives in the areas described below. • Engagement with stakeholders interested in securing global connectivity and providing access to an innovative research instrument made of sensors along the subsea cable. • Detailed mapping of the Arctic Ocean, which starts with preparing pre-survey of the route, mission planning considering the critical weather conditions and costs, three survey missions, and the analysis of the survey data. • Technical planning and design activities, including route planning, planning of the resilience, determination of the optimal locations of potential cable landing sites and branching units, including security and access control, environmental impact, permitting and regulatory compliance, collaboration with local authorities, emergency response and repair, remote monitoring and control systems, and back-up communication systems. • Sensor technology planning, analysis of available technologies for cable sensing and their contributions for security-, integrity-, scientific- and environmental monitoring. It is foreseen that there will be consultancies needed for several areas.