'Underwater cables can prevent tragic accidents'
Choi Bok-kyoungBy Park Jin-haiChoi Bok-kyoung, 50, a researcher at the Korea Institute of Ocean Science and Technology (KIOST), who recently test-ran underwater cable off Ulleung Island, says underwater cables can prevent tragic accidents like the Sewol ferry sinking.“If one studies ultrasonic sounds through the underwater cable, he can learn virtually all the things happening in the ocean,” he said in a recent interview with The Korea Times.Currently used are sensors, dropped from connected buoys, which detect underwater activities. “But, those sensors are prone to damages from the outside, such as passing vessels, currents or hail,” he said.On the contrary, underwater cables, once installed, are virtually unaffected by outside conditions, providing lots of critical information.“If we had those cables at the time of Sewol ferry sinking, we wouldn’t have had a hard time tracking the location of the vessel which moved according to the currents,” he added.Choi, who has a doctorate in physical acoustics at Sungkyunkwan University, is an underwat
Aug 28, 2014By Park Jin-hai