News Tuesday 3August 2010
Marine Signs Major Maintenance Agreement to Cover East African Written by Al-Bawaba

Aug 03, 2010 at 11:30 AM

-Marine Signs Major Maintenance Agreement to Cover East African Submarine Network (EASSy) E-marine today announced a maintenance and storage agreement with the East African Submarine System (EASSy), a fiber-optic cable that will greatly improve access to high-performance Internet, business and mobile-phone data services in twenty-one African nations. E-marine will now take responsibility for maintaining up to an 8,600km-strech of the EASSy submarine cable network. It will also provide secure storage for supplies and accessories in its state-of-the-art Bonded Cable Depot in the Port of Salalah, Oman.

The agreement was signed by “EASSy O&MSC Chairs, Vinod Kumar Verma and Ryan Sher and Omar Bin Kalban, Managing Director & CEO of E-marine.

Mr Trevor Martins, Chairman of the EASSy Management Committee said: “The increasing demand for telecommunications systems to connect Africa to the rest of the world was the motive behind building EASSy. This is a critical cable route upon which millions of people will come to depend, hence we require a partner with the expertise, resources and successful track record to ensure the reliability of the system and mitigate against any downtime risks. We are confident of achieving this with the support of E-marine and will ensure that the EASSy communities are fully connected and are able to secure a better future.”

The East African Submarine System (EASSy) is a 10,500 km submarine cable system constructed along the east coast of Africa. It is owned and operated by a group of African and international telecom operators. Omar Bin Kalban, Managing Director & CEO of E-Marine said: “The East African Submarine System is one of the breakthrough cable projects in the region. It will offer massive capacity to twenty-one coastal and land-locked countries in eastern Africa, helping to bridge the digital divide between nations. We are delighted to have been given the responsibility of ensuring that this great cable is maintained and we are committed to delivering the highest level of quality of service to EASSy and its customers.”

E-marine PJSC is an ISO Certified Company and one of the market leaders in submarine cable installation, maintenance and repair. E-Marine owns three Cable Ships and One Special Purpose Cable laying support vessel which are all fully equipped with state-of-the-art equipment.

E-Marine has to its credits many prestigious regional and international projects as well as maintenance and storage contracts for various submarine cables systems. E-Marine has valid maintenance contracts for more than 55,000 km of submarine cables from the Arabian Gulf, Indian Ocean, East Africa and Red Sea. The strategic location of E-Marine’s facilities as well as its customized solutions and highly competent professionals makes E-Marine the leader in the region for submarine cable related services.

For further information, please visit www.emarine.ae, www.eassy.org and www.wiocc.net.

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