• New York court asked to approve high-end vessel arrest
• Anchor hit 800m of Nassau-Andros link off Cable Beach
• Customer traffic re-routed via ‘very unstable’ connection

By NEIL HARTNELL

Tribune Business Editor

nhartnell@tribunemedi.net

The Bahamas Telecommunications Company (BTC) has launched legal action in New York to seize a high-end yacht it accuses of causing $1.5m in damage to its undersea cable network.

The carrier, in legal papers filed on Tuesday, is seeking a US federal court order for the arrest of the multi-million dollar M/V Retriever after its alleged attempts to anchor off Cable Beach on April 27, 2024, caused “extensive damage” to an 800-metre length of its Bahamas Domestic Submarine Network cable infrastructure.

Documents accompanying the lawsuit reveal that BTC had to re-route customer traffic of 20 Gbps (gigabytes per second) via the “very unstable” fibre optic connection between Ragged Island and Long Island, while other clients’ communications had to be directed via the separate ARCOS system. The damaged cable provided Internet and communications services between Nassau and Fresh Creek, Andros.

Describing itself as the “owner of Segment R1 of the Bahamas Domestic Submarine Network (BDSNi) submarine telecommunication cable system that connects The Bahamas with the rest in the world, carrying voice, data, video and Internet communications traffic”, BTC alleged: “On April 27, 2024, at approximately 4:27pm local time, the cable was damaged offshore of Cable Beach in Nassau, New Providence.

“BTC was immediately notified by the cable’s alarm logs. Through a review of publicly available Automatic Information System (AIS) data, BTC identified the vessel [M/V Retriever] as the only vessel in the direct vicinity of the cable at the approximate time and date that the damage occurred, with an AIS track indicating that the vessel appeared to be anchored, to have her anchor engaged in the cable, and to be trying to detangle her anchor from the cable.”

BTC produced an incident report to the southern New York federal court to support its case. “The below alarms indicate a fibre break event on the Bahamas Domestic Submarine Network subsea R1 segment (Fresh Creek to Nassau),” the report said.

“All customer traffic (50 Gbps) has been manually rerouted to alternate paths with available capacity. Twenty Gbps customer traffic rerouted on available capacity via Bahamas Domestic Submarine Network’s Ragged Island to Long Island segment (very unstable).

“Twenty Gbps customer traffic rerouted via available capacity on ARCOS Cat Island. Ten Gbps customer traffic rerouted via ARCOS Nassau. It is very important for customer traffic that we have full technical and financial support to restore the Bahamas Domestic Submarine Network subsea Fresh Creek to Nassau segment.”

The Bahamian carrier, which is 49 percent owned by the Government, said: “BTC sent submarine cable divers from Subsea Marine Services Inc to inspect the cable at the location of the incident, and the divers produced a video showing the damaged section of the cable.

“The divers found extensive damage on over 800 meters of cable, which coincides with the area where the vessel appeared to be anchored according to her AIS track. The divers’ video indicates that the damage was most likely caused by an entangled anchor dragging the cable.

“As a result of the damage to the cable caused by the vessel, traffic was interrupted on the cable, BTC’s telecommunications operations were disrupted in The Bahamas, and BTC will incur cable repair costs that are expected to amount to approximately $1.5m.”

BTC said the M/V Retriever’s arrest, and seizure, were justified in law as a means to ensure the vessel and its owners/operators pay for the necessary repairs. “Under the general maritime law, there is a presumption of negligence when a vessel strikes a stationary object.,” it argued.

“The actions of the vessel in anchoring in the direct vicinity of an in-service submarine telecommunication cable constitute negligence per se. As a direct and proximate result of the negligence of the vessel, BTC will incur damages that are expected to amount to approximately $1.5m to repair the cable.

“BTC has a maritime lien over the vessel based on the vessel’s maritime tort against the cable, and BTC is entitled to arrest the vessel and recover in full the damages resulting from the maritime tort.”

It is asking the southern New York federal court to declare it has a “valid” maritime lien over the M/V Retriever, which is presently thought to be in the New York area, and that the vessel “be foreclosed... and thereupon that the vessel be condemned and sold in payment of the damages sustained by BTC”.

The Bahamian communications provider is demanding that it recover “the full amount of damages incurred... as a result of the negligent damage of the cable, plus interest, charges, costs and attorneys’ fees”. It is seeking the appointment of National Maritime Services to act as custodian of the M/V Retriever upon its arrest and keep it safe until the action is settled. Custodial charges amount to $889 per day.

A BTC spokesperson said the carrier was unlikely to respond to Tribune Business questions on the wider issues raised by the cable break before press time last night. Fibre optic cable breaks resulting from the dropping, or entanglement, with ships’ anchors has been a recurring incident in The Bahamas for many years.