Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

Satellite IDs Ships That Cut Cables

Posted by kdawson on from the busted-from-the-sky dept.

1sockchuck writes "Undersea telecom cable operator Reliance Globalcom was able to use satellite images to identify two ships that dropped anchor in the wrong place, damaging submarine cables and knocking Middle East nations offline in early February. The company used satellite images to study the movements of the two ships, and shared the information with officials in Dubai, who impounded the two vessels. The NANOG list has a discussion of where Reliance might have obtained satellite images to provide that level of detail. Google News links more coverage of the developments."

12 of 186 comments (clear)

  1. Somehow it must be Israel's fault by TheMiddleRoad · · Score: 5, Insightful

    The conspiracy nuts are pitiful. I used to think they were all on the right, but now I know there are just as many if not more on the left.

    1. Re:Somehow it must be Israel's fault by Squalish · · Score: 3, Insightful

      There are more conspiracy nuts on the opposite of whichever side has systematically abused their power for sinister gain, dissolving long-held protections, destroying systems and bucking customs for their own confusing purposes in direct opposition to the obvious right thing to do, or the interests of their employers (us). When they do it openly in many different areas without explaining themselves, and there is a well-funded, small group of idealogues behind them, who insist on an absolute right to their own secrecy(they claim the entire Executive Branch may choose whether to testify to court or Congress), and secrets keep leaking out (like suspending the 4th amendment in 2002) from disgruntled ex-employees...

      It's very difficult to have ANY sort of imagination, not just the tin-foil hat kind, and avoid wondering about at least the possibility that the current administration is involved in several large, sinister conspiracies which the public doesn't know about yet. We have literally dozens available that are already in the public sphere.

      This is why 9/11 conspiracy nuts will never die, even if they can't convince skeptics like myself who pick at the technical details. The thing their stories agree on - that those presently in power either caused or could have prevented the attack - fits like a glove into what we know about the administration's goals pre-attack and their actions post-attack. If the Democrats used an attack(cause unknown) to drastically change the country, get rid of all the constitutional rights you hold dear, fulfill a bullet point in preexisting plan to grow the military industrial complex, wage an aggressive war longer than WW2, set us up for at least the possibility of the destruction of our democracy, steal elections, and generally act like a bad Disney villain, there would be a hell of a lot of Republican conspiracy theorists after 8 years as well.

      Your political beliefs should not inform your reasoning, it should be the other way around.

      --
      People in Soviet Russia, however, appear to be afflicted with amusing juxtapositions of the aforementioned situation
    2. Re:Somehow it must be Israel's fault by moxley · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Well I will tell you this much - it's only a true fool who believes that "conspiracies never happen" and everything govt/intel says is true.

      Indeed, conspiracies happen all of the time - any time more than one person gets together with another and plans to do something. It's also one of the msot common criminal charges in the US.

      I still think that the odds of how this happen with so many cables in such a short time span is suspicious. Does that mean it wasn't an accident? Anything is possible, but some things are more likely than others and keep in mind that those groups or agencies who do these sort of things specialize in damage control, cover stories, and manipulation of the public.

      All I am saying is that you really don't know, and for people to act like it's "case closed no questions remain" over this press release is kind of short sighted. It really doesn't change a thing. If this was done intentionally there would be a cover, likely a couple of layers of cover.

    3. Re:Somehow it must be Israel's fault by CmdrGravy · · Score: 2, Insightful

      True but as someone once said you don't want to keep such an open mind that your brain falls out which would appear to be a necessary pre-condition for the vast majority of popular conspiracies.

  2. Re:weird, huh? by phantomfive · · Score: 5, Insightful

    And two cables cut by unrelated ships within such a short timeframe? This is soooo conspiracy inducing. Is it? have you even checked the likelihood of that happening? As a matter of fact, in an average year, around 50 undersea cables are broken. Given that there are 365 days in a year, what is the chance of two breaking in 'such a short timeframe?' It doesn't happen every day, but it's not really out of the ordinary. Check these things before you try to dream up a conspiracy.

    Seriously, when it comes to technology slashdot is collectively pretty intelligent; but when it comes to paranoia and politics, slashdot collectively drops down to the IQ of a two year old.
    --
    Qxe4
  3. Re:Coverup by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Insightful

    It says a "Korean shipping company." Not North Korea.

    My guess is that it was a South Korean shipping company. But that doesn't make for as much rhetoric.

  4. I am sorry, by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

    What interest does the US have in accusing its own puppet government (Iraq) and one of it's best allies, South Korea, of sabotage?

    Oh, that's right, none. STFU, troll.

  5. Cutting cables like nuclear war by daBass · · Score: 3, Insightful

    It is so incredibly easy to cut cables and once someone does it, everybody will and everybody loses.

    MAD: Mutually Assured Disconnection

    Hence, nobody does it.

    A cable gets cut by accident every week of the year. So this time there were a couple grouped a bit closer both in time and geography. Big Deal.

  6. Re:Cite your sources by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Insightful

    It's lame to demand that people cite things that are easy to find on your own.

    google "how often are undersea cables cut, on average" yields a bunch of sources that say once every three days.

    The whole "cite your sources" thing is generally meant to stifle conversation instead of enhance it. Unless you're actually asking for something that is tough to find or unlikely or contentious, then you're being silly.

  7. Re:Man, are those guys good, or what? by kylehase · · Score: 1, Insightful

    1) Paint big flag on the surface of ship.
    2) Cut cable with ship in #1 above.
    3) Record evidence of "act of terror".
    4) Wage war against evil country.
    5) Profit for Halliburton.
    6) Rest of US economy fails.

    --
    You want fun, go home and buy a monkey!
  8. Images might not have to be that sharp. by F34nor · · Score: 4, Insightful

    If you take the layout of the deck and then compare it to ships in port at known times and locations it would be easy to ident. ships even with a meter resolution. The color and organization of shipping containers has got to be nearly as good a fingerprint even form space.

  9. Re:here is another coverup, please view by OldeTimeGeek · · Score: 2, Insightful
    Wouldn't the dirt/dust also float a little bit?

    As I remember, it did. But I would think (and, no, I haven't done the math) that the lack of air resistance on the light dust/dirt might cause it to fall a bit faster than one would expect to due to lesser gravity.