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Naoto Inoue
Global Business Unit
Submarine Network Division
Cable laying Engineer
Marine Installation Group
Installatoin department

My aspirations to connect the seven seas with submarine cables

My desire to work with submarine cables is what led me to join NEC. One day I dream of laying NEC’s submarine cables in all seven seas to connect people around the globe. Thus far in my career, I have had the opportunity to be involved in laying cables in the North Pacific, South Pacific, and Indian Oceans. We have recently started seeing an increase in projects in the Atlantic Ocean, and I’m looking forward to being part of them.

Playing a leading role in underwater operations

Since I am in charge of cable-laying design, my work spans from the bidding stage to laying cable on the seafloor. Once a bid has been announced, I begin designing the cable route, bearing in mind the topography of the seafloor and possible obstructions, and then provide the customer with a proposal identifying the optimal route. Next, a survey vessel is used to conduct a marine survey to check for unexpected obstructions or irregularities on the seafloor. While the route is finalized and the cable is manufactured, I make adjustments to the laying schedule in coordination with the customer and the vessel company. Once the actual laying of the cable begins, I sometimes board and stay on the vessel with the crew for long periods—in some cases months—to oversee the cable-laying work. Then when it comes time for the landing of the cable, I travel to the site to supervise the cable landing process.
I also frequently travel overseas to negotiate with customers and conduct on-site work.

Cable-laying vessels: a melting pot of diversity

The crews on board these cable-laying vessels are multinational. In many cases, the crew is made up of a mix of nationalities, with engineers from Europe and deck crew members hailing from Southeast Asia or even Madagascar.
While cultural differences inevitably arise, everyone makes an effort to acknowledge one another and build relationships of trust by improving communication—for example, by using greetings in the local language.

Celebrating the completion of cable laying under the starry night sky

On transoceanic projects, we sometimes work together on the vessel for several months on end. I feel a sense of exhilaration and accomplishment once we finally finish laying the very last of the thousands of kilometers of submarine cable. And we always share the joy of completing the project that we’ve worked together on for so long with the vessel’s crew.
One experience I will never forget is standing on the bridge of the vessel alongside the crew I had grown so close to and looking up at the 360-degree view of the starry night sky. I still remember seeing more shooting stars that night than I could count. When you’re out in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, you can see the stars stretching out nearly to the horizon. It is breathtakingly beautiful.

Future goals

NEC’s submarine cable systems currently enjoy one of the top three shares in the world. Another way to interpret this is that there is tremendous demand for our systems and that companies and people all over the world are involved.
My goal is to broaden my connections with those involved, further improve NEC’s systems, and ensure that as many people as possible know about them. This is why I would like to visit cable-laying vessels and landing sites as often as possible to meet and communicate with customers and contractors. By meeting face-to-face, we can truly hear what they want to tell us—something that can’t be done via e-mail or phone—and incorporate their feedback into our designs to make them even better.
Another aspiration of mine is to study French as my third language. I want to do this because it makes me happy when foreigners explain things or greet me in their mother tongue.