UJ & Cable Services

Global Marine has an unrivalled depth of knowledge and experience in subsea cables from cable testing, to the supply of Universal Joint and Universal Quick Joint parts, training and qualification.

As a founding member of the Universal Joint Consortium, we can provide industry accredited UJ and UQJ training, delivered by our highly experienced team in our training school.

We can also provide our customers with all the piece parts required to install and maintain the UJ and UQJ, as well as offer UJ and UQJ industry standard cable qualification.

In addition, as part of our cable services we also have an industry leading cable test cable facility, where we can perform a variety of vigorous tests that simulate subsea environment at our offices in Chelmsford, United Kingdom.

The Universal Joint (UJ) and the Universal Quick Joint (UQJ) provide an industry recognised solution for the repair of fibre optic cable.  It is essential that a cable is qualified so that appropriate tool kits can be prepared and to ensure its compatibility to the UJ or UQJ solution.

Global Marine qualify cables to assess their suitability to work with Universal Joint technology. Each cable type is characterised and bespoke piece parts are designed and manufactured.

The joint containing the cable or cable combination is then rigorously tested to a common specification in the Test House to simulate shipboard deployment and requisite oceanographic conditions.

Following success completion, a Qualification Certificate is issued to the customer and that cable (or cable combination) is included in the list of qualified cables and toolkits. End-specific kits and then constructed and  manuals are produced.

PGU Training

Submarine cable systems employing switchable, powered branching units can be hazardous to repair as the system power could be re-applied under certain fault conditions, thus endangering the lives of the repair personnel.

Global Marine’s Protection Grounding Unit (PGU) technology enables cable systems to be repaired safely and without risk to personnel.

Training in this area is imperative and Global Marine has developed a training course that provides a detailed understanding of the technology and the practical skills required to manage cable work of this nature.

PGU training is carried out at Global Marine’s Training School based in Chelmsford, UK run by qualified instructors and at the end of the course, students will be skilled in all PGU techniques and will be capable of carrying out a PGU repair on any of the cables qualified for PGU.

Periodically, students will be required to take ‘refresher’ courses to confirm their understanding of PGU and to learn about new additions to the technology. The course concludes with a written examination to confirm that the students fully understand PGU and all its safety implications.

Global Marine also offers a comprehensive PGU package, which includes:

• Re-commissioning of the PGU alarm system & audit of the PGU tooling
• Training for the operational personnel (cable engineers, deck supervisors, cable jointers & crew). This includes theory training and most importantly, a deck exercise where cable is
• actually moved through the vessel
• Technical Support support for 2 years, which includes free updates to PGU procedures

UJ Jointer Training

Jointers are required to pass examinations to qualify as UJ/UQJ jointers and are issued with certificates following their success. UJ/UQJ qualification is time limited and re-qualification courses are offered when the qualification periods end.

The Global Marine Jointer Training School is a Universal Joint Consortium (UJC) Accredited Training School, and as such offers a complete range of training and qualifications for the Universal Joint (UJ) and Universal Quick Joint (UQJ) and all supported UJ and UQJ cables.

Courses are offered for the basic UJ or UQJ (or both) training and also for specific cable technologies.

Global Marine is able to tailor the training to your specific requirements for example, if your company has a cable system employing perhaps three different cable types, then your nominated jointers will require the basic training and cable specific training for only those three cables and not for the complete range available.

UJ Instructor Training

As a founding member of the Universal Joint Consortium, Global Marine has been involved in developing products and training staff since the concept of the universal joint and is well placed to share its knowledge through its accredited training programmes.

It is essential that any company with an (UJC) accredited jointer training school must have qualified instructors to provide training and qualifications to their students. The Global Marine Training School delivers comprehensive instructor training where both the basic and specific technologies are taught. Once the course is completed and the individual assessed they are awarded with the industry recognised title of UJ Instructor.

Piece Parts

Global Marine can provide customers with all the piece parts required to install and maintain the Universal Joint (UJ). Global Marine is a founding member of the Universal Joint Consortium (UJC), and as a result, has played a pivotal part in the development of the UJ. The team has exceptional knowledge and is able to support the global customer base and ensure that each individual requirement is met with great accuracy.

Each cable type and variant uses different piece parts when using UJ technology. These parts are supplied as ‘common’ and ‘end specific’ kits in individual, rigorously packed and protected flight cases. Complete instructions for using the parts and assembling joints are available in the UJ & UQJ Explorer Memory Card, which is published on a quarterly basis. All parts are backwards-compatible so the technology you purchase always remains current.

Tools & Equipment

Global Marine is the market leader in the development of fibre-based cable jointing technology and provides tools and equipment to customers around the globe, that are compatible with their specific Universal Joint (UJ) and Universal Quick Joint (UQJ) requirements.

There are two distinctive types of tools available standard equipment, which can be used across all joints, identified as ‘common equipment’ and bespoke equipment known as end-specific.

Common equipment for UJ & UQJ technology includes the jointing benches, presses and general toolkits.

Because the technology for preparing each cable type is different, there is an end-specific toolkit for each cable type.

The complete joint assembly will be carried out using a combination of the common tooling and the end-specific toolkits. All the toolkits are packaged in individual cases with foam cut-outs containing each tool which both offers protection and ensure that specific groups of tools remain together.

An introduction to UJ & Cable Services

A cable joint is a connection between two sections of cable – specifically fibre optic cables when talking about Universal Joints (UJ). As each cable is unique in its design, based upon its specific requirements for speed, data capacity, and its application – a trans-oceanic network, a regional network, a domestic festoon network or even connecting offshore oil and gas platforms – it requires an appropriate kit of parts, tools, skill set and testing to ensure it meets the users requirements.

Cable jointing has highly specialised requirements, before laying cables, appropriate development and meticulous specific testing must be undertaken in order to ensure safety and reliability.

Global Marine’s Lloyds Registered and UKAS accredited testing laboratory No.9277 is capable of performing various rigorous tests, simulating cable tanking, deployment, installation and recovery, as well as whole of life service tests related to submarine cable and submarine plant.

Each test is designed to provide the customer with useful and practical results pertaining to a marine environment capability. The facility is unique in being able to provide a complete range of cable and joint/repeater qualification tests, all under one roof. The facility’s highly skilled team combines vast experience of years of submarine cable and joint testing, with state-of-the-art resources and expertise.

Global Marine’s approach offers customers an industry recognised standard of service, utilising ISO9001 and 17025 document and project management principles, as well as efficient and cost-effective testing for a multitude of submersible products. In addition, there is the ability to monitor operational parameters of products during testing and to accurately simulate various operational conditions, providing a very realistic testing environment.

Housed at the company’s head office in Chelmsford, UK, Global Marine’s industry leading Test Facility has become the ‘go-to’ place for cable manufacturers as well as other industry organisations wanting reassurance that their product is suitable for the harsh marine environment that it ultimately designed to operate in. Our Test Facility has aided in continually raising the jointing standards for the entire industry.

Before a cable, joint, rope, hawser, repeater or other item of subsea equipment can be deployed, there must be an assurance that it can be laid, operate and recovered safely and satisfactorily under extreme maritime conditions.

Global Marine offers a complete range of precise mechanical, electrical, environmental and optical tests complying to various industry standards which among other objectives simulate marine deployment and oceanographic conditions.

These include but are not limited to: tensile testing (up to 1MN), torsion, sheave, fatigue, high voltage and pressure testing; to internationally agreed standards and with full monitoring and data logging, both electrical and optical. Pressure testing can simulate the conditions at the deepest point of the ocean; high voltage testing can simulate electrical surges, and the round the sheave tests simulate all types of cable movement including deployment and recovery from vessels. Following testing, concise reports are issued confirming compliance, or otherwise, with the requested standard.

View and download our comprehensive guide to cable testing at Global Marine to find out more about our service offering.

View Cable Testing Guide