A severed cable to repair: import and export data. And one to be placed, 480 kilometers long, which will connect Sardinia to Sicily: it is the Thyrrhenian Link, Terna's energy leash. These are the reasons for the impressive and non-ordinary ship traffic recorded in the Gulf of Cagliari in recent days. Hulls that reached the coast, which attracted the attention of many because it was clear that they were not carrying goods, passengers or hydrocarbons. All ships that were scanning the seabed, and will do so for a long time. One to intervene on damage, yet another, to Janna Link 2, one of the submarine connections through which the optical fiber passes that brings the internet to the homes of all Sardinians. The others, one in particular, to study the geomorphological characteristics of the underwater terrain: analyzes necessary to lay the energy pipe between Termini Imerese and Terra Mala (and from there up to Selargius) with a total value of 3.7 billion on the bottom of the Tyrrhenian Sea. of investment, which "will favor the flows of renewable energy": the energy produced by the wind invasion (and not only) in Sardinia must be brought to the Peninsula. The reconstruction of causes, movements and their extension is entrusted to the ordinances of the Coast Guard and to the findings of the regional offices.

The accident

Yesterday evening the cable-laying ship Antonio Meucci returned to the port of Catania, from which it left. Its intervention in the Gulf was protected by a provision of the Harbor Office issued on 28 December which imposed on all passing boats a minimum distance from the area in which it would operate on behalf of the company Elettra Slc: it is a large stretch of sea off the coast of the Devil's Saddle. Reason: “Repair work on the Janna Link 2 submarine cable”. It is a crucial infrastructure for Sardinia's internet connection, which connects Cagliari to Mazara del Vallo in Sicily, managed by the Janna Scarl consortium of which the Region is also part: stability depends on that, and on another that lands in Olbia. of online network connections. Each contains numerous pairs of cables, if one breaks there is the other. But a multiple incident could isolate the Sardinian connections. "They informed us, the cable was damaged and urgent repair work was required," they said from the general management of the General Affairs Department, which also covers innovation and technological safety. Who and how severed a pipe tens of meters deep is unknown. This time like the many others in the past: there have been almost two dozen similar accidents since 2005. Each repair can cost over 150 thousand euros but no one, so far, has been held accountable for their responsibilities. The main suspects are the fishing boats, not necessarily Sardinian, who uproot the cable and leave. But, at least about the latest accident there are no certainties.