WCA September 2007

Industry news

Nexans subsidiary provides submarine cables to Korean navy

Kukdong, the South Korea-based subsidiary of Nexans, is carrying out a major contract to supply power, control, lighting and instrumentation cables to Hyundai Heavy Industries (HHI) for use in the construction of three Type 214 submarines for the Republic of Korea Navy (ROKN). In order to achieve this, Kukdong became the country’s first cable manufacturer to achieve certification to the rigorous quality standards required by the VDE and BWB (Germany’s Federal Office of Defence Technology and Procurement). Nexans’ enhanced cable solutions and services fully conform to the world’s strict naval standards and then meet the tough demands of navies worldwide. The Type 214 diesel-electric submarine was developed originally by the German firm Howaldtswerke-Deutsche Werft AG (HDW). In November 2000, the ROK Defence Ministry selected Hyundai Heavy Industries Co (HHI) for a $1.12 billion project to build three new submarines based on the German firm’s technology and design. Typically, cables specified for merchant ships or offshore applications have to be certified as resistant to three different types of oil.

A Type 214 submarine prior to launch m

However, the extreme conditions experienced by the Type 214 submarines, which are capable of operating at depths of more than 250m, required the cables to meet even more stringent standards. The Kukdong cables had to pass rigorous service life testing to prove their

capability to resist five different types of machine and fuel oil, as well as salt water and filtered water and various compositions of oil and water. Following the test and evaluation programme, Kukdong became the first company in South Korea, and only the third in the world, to be awarded VG95218 Teil 60/61/62/63/64/65/66 certification by VDE, the German Association for Electrical, Electronic & Information Technologies, as well as approval by BWB. Certification covers power and control cables from 0.6 up to 1kV, 550V lighting cable and 250V instrumentation cable. Kukdong Electric Wire – Korea Fax : +82 22140 3098 Email : info@cablekukdong.co.kr Website : www.cablekukdong.co.kr Wire & Cable ASIA – the leading trade magazine for the wire and cable industries in Asia

Metav to run alongside wire and Tube Düsseldorf 2008 Metav Düsseldorf 2008 – the International Fair for Manufacturing Technology and Automation – is being held from 31 st March to 4 th April 2008 – running alongside wire and Tube Düsseldorf. The three trade fairs, with their overlapping visitor and customer base, generates many synergies: metal working technology is presented in an even more comprehensive style. Many exhibitors at wire and Tube are also customers of Metav exhibitors. These three events will occupy almost the entire Düsseldorf exhibition centre, offering a forum for almost 3,000 exhibitors and more than 100,000 trade visitors. VDW – German Machine Tool Builders’ Association – Germany Fax : +49 69 7560 8111 Email : vdw@vdw.de Website : www.vdw.de

Wire & Cable ASIA – September/October 2007