Penetration of Ship Anchors and the Influence of Submarine Cables

Impacts by ship anchors are one of the main reasons for damage to submarine cables. Regulations meet this risk by defining a minimum permanent burial depth of submarine cables. The key parameters for the risk evaluation are the burial depth of the cable as well as the penetration depth of the anchor. In order to meet this risk sufficiently and to reduce the risk of submarine cable damage, the penetration process into the sea bed of the ship anchor has to be understood. Numerical simulations of the anchor penetration in sand are performed, in order to investigate the influence of anchor movement on submarine cables and to identify possible damage mechanisms.