From the deck of the Sophie-Germain, Orange Marine's cable-laying vessel moored in the port of La Seyne-sur-Mer (southern France), the imposing warships of the Toulon arsenal could be easily seen across the harbor. It provided a reminder of the close relationship between underwater communications and the military.

In 1863, Napoleon III set up an electro-semaphore submarine cable department at the Var naval base, and in 1881, La Seyne-sur-Mer became home to France's first submarine cable factory, complete with a quay and storage warehouse, still used today by Orange Marine. At the time, it was necessary to respond to the boom in telegraphic communications, particularly linking to the colonies, and to free the country from dependence on the English, who were hegemonic in laying and maintaining submarine cables.

A century and a half later, France now dominates the sector, ahead of the Americans, the British and the Japanese. Between the six vessels of Orange Marine, a company 100% owned by the telecoms operator since 1999, and the seven ships of Louis Dreyfus Armateurs chartered by Alcatel Submarine Networks, former subsidiary of Nokia nationalized by the state in November 2024, the French flag represents around a third of the world's cable-laying fleet, making it possible to operate in virtually all the world's seas.

Anchors adrift

Created with sovereignty in mind – cable-laying ships have the rare privilege of flying their own blue-white-red flag, adorned with three golden lightning bolts, a star and a naval anchor –, this power projection has become vital to the smooth running of the internet: The 500 fiber-optic submarine cables found under the seas and oceans carry 99% of the world's digital data traffic.

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