The present invention relates to a method and a device for monitoring a submarine cable, which is used in particular to transport energy.
Definitions: In the present application, covered height of the submarine cable refers to the height of soil material arranged on top of the submarine cable, which is usually sand.
Submarine cables are increasingly being used to transport large quantities of energy of wind farms or between different countries. To secure the cable against dropped anchor and similar events, the submarine cable must typically be covered with a layer of sand having a particular statutory minimum layer thickness of sand, for example, in the order of 1.5 m. If the sand layer is completely missing, the cable can be moved by ocean currents and is thus also subjected to increased mechanical wear.
To date, no technical solutions are known for permanently monitoring the layer thickness of the sand above the submarine cable or when the sand above the submarine cables is flushed away. Therefore, inspections using diving robots and similar complex equipment must be performed in regular intervals.
The problem underlying the present invention is thus to provide a method and a device that enable reliable and cost-effective monitoring of the submarine cable.