Di 'hero' ship wey dey fix Africa internet blackouts - BBC join di crew

One ship wey be like di size of a football field, wit more dan 50 engineers and technicians as crew members dey cruise di oceans around Africa to keep di continent online.

Dem dey provide important service, as last year internet blackout show wen internet cables wey dem bury dey under di sea bin dey damaged.

Millions from Lagos to Nairobi enta into digital darkness: messaging apps crash and banking transactions fail. E make businesses and individuals dey struggle.

Na Léon Thévenin wey fix di multiple cable failures. Di ship, wia a BBC team recently spend a week wit di crew off di coast of Ghana, don dey do dis specialised repair work for di last 13 years.

"Becos of me, kountris stay connected," Shuru Arendse, a cable jointer from South Africa wey don dey work on di ship for more dan a decade, tell di BBC.

"IT pipo for house get work becos I dey bring di main feed in," e tok.

"You get heroes wey dey save lives - I be hero becos I save communication."

Im pride and passion reflect di sentiment of di skilled crew on di Léon Thévenin, wey dey stand eight floors high and cari many different equipment.

Di internet na network of computers servers - to read dis article e dey likely say at least one of 600 fibre optic cables across di world collect di data to present am on your screen.

Most of these servers dey for data centres outside of Africa and di fibre optic cables run along di ocean floor linking dem to coastal cities on di continent.

Data dey travel through hair-thin fibreglass wires, often grouped in pairs and protected by different layers of plastic and copper depending on how close di cables dey to di shore.

"As long as di servers no dey di country, you go need a connection. Dem run cable from one kontri to di next, linking users to servers wey store dia data - weda na to access Facebook or any oda online service," na so Benjamin Smith, di Léon Thévenin deputy chief of mission tok.

Undersea fibre optic cables dey designed to work for 25 years wit minimal maintenance, but wen dem dey damaged, na usually due to human activity.

"Di cable generally no dey break on im own unless you dey for area wey get pretty high currents and very sharp rocks," na so Charles Heald, wey dey in charge of di ship remotely operated vehicle (ROV) tok.

"But most of di time na pipo wey anchor wia dem no suppose anchor and fishing trawlers wey sometimes scrape along di seabed, so typically we go see scars from trawling."

Oga Smith also say natural disasters dey cause damage to cables, especially for parts of di continent with extreme weather conditions.

E give example of di seas off di coast of di Democratic Republic of Congo, wia di Congo River dey empty into di Atlantic.

"For di Congo Canyon, wia dem get a lot of rainfall and low tide, e fit create currents wey damage di cable," e tok.

Deliberate sabotage dey difficult to identify - but di Léon Thévenin crew say dem never see any obvious evidence of dis demsefs.

A year ago, three critical cables for di Red Sea - Seacom, AAE-1 and EIG - bin dey cut, reportedly by one ship anchor, wey come disrupt connectivity for millions across East Africa, including Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda and Mozambique.

Just a month later, in March 2024, a separate set of breaks in di Wacs, Ace, Sat-3, and MainOne cables off di coast of West Africa cause serious internet blackouts across Nigeria, Ghana, Ivory Coast and Liberia.

Anytin wey concern di internet to function bin feel di strain as repairs stretch on for weeks.

Den in May, yet anoda setback: di Seacom and Eassy cables suffer damage off di coast of South Africa, hitting connectivity in multiple East African nations once again.

Such faults dey detected by testing electricity and signal strength transmitted through cables.

"Dia may be 3,000 volts inside one cable and suddenly e drop to 50 volts, dis mean say problem problem," na so Loic Wallerand, di ship chief of mission explain.

E get local teams wit di capacity to deal wit faults in deep waters, but if dem detect dem to dey beyond a depth of 50m (164ft), dem go call di ship to action. Di crew fit fix cables wey dey deeper dan 5,000m below sea level.

Di repair wey di BBC witness off Ghana take over a week to deal wit, but most internet users no notice am as traffic bin dey redirected to anoda cable.

Di nature of evri repair depends on di part of di cable wey dey damaged.

If di fibreglass at di core break, e mean say di data no go fit travel along di network and e gatz to dey sent to anoda cable.

But some African kontris get only one cable wey dey serve dem. Dis mean say a cable wey dey damaged dis way go leave di affected area without internet.

At oda times, di protective layers of di fibre fit dey damaged, meaning say data transmission go still occur, but wit a lower efficiency. In both cases, di crew must find di exact location of di damage.

In di case of broken fibreglass, dem go send a light signal through di cable and through di point of reflection, di crew go come determine wia di break dey.

Wen di problem dey with di cable insulation - known as a "shunt fault" - e become more complicated and electrical signal gatz to dey sent along di cable to physically track wia e dey lost.

Afta narrowing down di possible area of di fault, di operation go move to di ROV team.

Dem build am like bulldozer, di ROV, wey weigh 9.5 tonnes, go dey lowered under water from di ship wia dem go guide am down to di ocean floor.

About five crew members go work wit a crane operator to deploy am - once e dey released from di harness, called di umbilical cord, e go float gracefully.

"E no dey sink," Heald tok, as e explain how e dey use four horizontal and vertical thrusters to move in any direction.

Di ROV three cameras allow di team onboard to look for di precise location of faults as e move to di ocean bed.

Once dem see am, di ROV go cut di affected part using di two arms, den tie am to rope wey e go drag back to di ship.

Hia dem go separate di faulty section and replace am as dem go splice and join am to a new cable - a process wey look like welding and wey take 24 hours in di case of di operation wey BBC witness.

Later, dem go carefully lower di cable back to di ocean bed and den di ROV go make one final journey to inspect am say e dey dem place am well and e go take coordinates so maps go dey updated.

Wen dem receive alert about a damaged cable, di Léon Thévenin crew dey ready to sail within 24 hours.

However, dia response time depend on several factors: di ship location, di availability of spare cables and bureaucratic challenges.

"Permits fit take weeks. Sometimes we sail to di affected kontri and wait offshore until di paperwork dey sorted," oga Wallerand tok.

On di average, di crew dey spend more dan six months at sea evri year.

"Na part of di job," Captain Thomas Quehec tok.

But as we tok wit wit di crew members between tasks, e dey hard to ignore dia personal sacrifices.

Dem dey drawn from different backgrounds and nationalities: French, South African, Filipino, Malagasy and more.

Adrian Morgan, di ship chief steward from South Africa, don miss five consecutive wedding anniversaries.

"I bin wan resign. E dey hard to stay away from my family, but my wife encourage me. I dey do am for dem," e tok.

Anoda South African, maintenance fitter Noel Goeieman, dey worried say im fit miss im son wedding in a few weeks if di ship dey called out to anoda mission.

"I hear say we fit go to Durban [in South Africa]. My son go dey very sad becos e no get mama," na so Mr Goeieman, wey lose im wife three years ago tok.

"But I go retire in six months," e add wit a smile.

Despite di emotional toll, dem get good friendship among demsefs onboard.

Wen off-duty, crew members either dey play video games for di lounge or dey share food for di ship mess hall.

Dia entry into di profession dey as diverse as dia background.

While oga Goeieman follow im papa footsteps, chief cook, South African Remario Smith, go to sea to escape a life of crime.

"I bin dey involved in gangs when I bin dey younger," Mr Smith tok, "I born my child was born wen I turn 25, and I know say I gatz change my life."

Like di odas onboard e appreciate di role di ship dey play on di continent.

"We be di link between Africa and di world," chief engineer Ferron Hartzenberg tok.

Additional reporting by Jess Auerbach Jahajeeah.