The specialised barge Swissco-12, tasked with laying optical fibre submarine cable to connect South Asia, the Middle East and Western Europe with the information super highway, will start its journey for Cox's Bazar today amid tight security. The barge, which had earlier come under attack from pirates twice on Friday, is now preparing at the Chittagong Dry Dock jetty for Cox's Bazar, Captain Quamrul Hossain, a member of operation of the Chittagong Port Authority, told The Daily Star. Cap Quamrul said the Navy and Coast Guard are actively concerned about the security of the specialised barge. "Ansar will remain on board to ensure security until it [the barge] finishes its mission," he added.A gang of 50 to 60 armed pirates attacked the Chittagong Port-bound barge twice on Friday when it was crossing the Kutubdia channel on its way to the outer anchorage. The pirates injured 27 crewmembers and looted goods of little value, including ropes, sources said. Following the attack the barge, a Singapore flag carrier, was taken to the Dry Dock jetty on Saturday morning. Crewmembers at the time refused to sail with the ship to Cox's Bazar, citing safety reasons. Sources yesterday said the Prime Minister Office (PMO) has taken the matter seriously, ordering the Ministry of Home Affairs on Sunday to provide sufficient security measures so that the ship can soon sail. "As per the home ministry's measure, we are receiving 10 ansars, five members of the Armed Police Battalion and a patrol ship from the coast guard for our safety, and will leave Chittagong at 7:00 am tomorrow morning with them and hopefully reach Cox's Bazar before dusk," said Parvez Ahmed, the managing director of the barge's local agent, Mutual Shipping Lines Ltd. Parvez told The Daily Star that the foreign crew and other staff are now happy and convinced with the measures taken by the government. "I hope there will not be any further trouble," he said.
Fujitsu of Japan will install the 22.24 km-long submarine cable line on the seabed with assistance from Tyco Telecom of the United States of America and Otronix of South Korea. The installation work, originally slated to begin today, will now begin on the morning of Thursday, April 7, after completion of a one-day field survey, and will take 15 days. Setting up a base landing station with all necessary equipment will require an additional two months. Alcatel and Fujitsu will finish the cable laying by the middle of August to connect Bangladesh with the high-speed global telecom network by October 2005. Alcatel will set up the equipment at the landing station while Fujitsu will set up the transmission equipment at the branch line. Bangladesh will receive $60 million from the Islamic Development Bank under an agreement signed between the two sides in February this year for linking the country to the submarine cable. Bangladesh signed the 16-party consortium contract in Dubai on March 27 of last year for the transcontinental submarine cable, which will be around 20,000 kilometres long, including the main trunk line and branches, and cost about $500 million to install. BTTB, Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Italy, Thailand, Algeria, Tunisia and France, along with Indian private carriers Bharti and VSNL, are members of this consortium.