Safety

Keeping our oceans safe together

Emera Newfoundland & Labrador (ENL) operates and maintains the Maritime Link, the electric transmission lines ​that deliver clean energy from Labrador through Newfoundland to Nova Scotia.  Completed in 2017, the Maritime Link is more than 500km long, with about 170km of submarine power cables between Cape Ray (NL) and Point Aconi (NS).  The submarine cables operate at 200,000 volts and can deliver 500 MW of energy, enough to power about 200,000 homes.   

We maintain a rigorous safety program to ensure the safe operation of the Maritime Link – and we need your help. The cables are buried in the sea floor and protected by berms. Changes in the undersea environment can lead to variation in the depths of trenches and berms.   

Although the power cables are buried in the sea floor and intended to be protected by rock berms, harsh conditions in the Cabot Strait may result in portions of the cables becoming exposed. Contact with the high-voltage submarine cables or the protective berms can be dangerous, disruptive and difficult to repair.  For fishers, it can lead to harm to people and equipment.  Fixing the cables and berms can cost in the tens of millions of dollars and take months, disrupting electricity supply in the region and creating significant liability risks.   

It is really important that you know the risks and where to avoid bottom trawling.  We strongly recommend that you avoid the use of bottom-trawling mobile gear within one nautical mile on both sides of the Maritime Link subsea cables. It is still safe to pass over the cables, provided your gear is raised off the ocean floor. 

Since 2017, the locations of the cables have been published on the hydrographic chart update from the Canadian Hydrographic Services.  

We appreciate the important contribution of fisheries to Atlantic Canada’s communities and economy.    We have a shared interest to keeping our ocean activities safe. Thank you for being good partners in this.