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Technology

Kneel before this giant undersea plough

9 December 2013

Âé¶¹´«Ã½. Science news and long reads from expert journalists, covering developments in science, technology, health and the environment on the website and the magazine.

(Image: Mike Smith/EEF Photography Awards)

This mighty mechanical beast is a plough – but you won’t see it in any farmer’s field. The 35-tonne underwater worker digs in the silt deep on the ocean floor.

The is towed behind a ship, burying the heavy power cable that runs from offshore wind turbines in a trench up to 2.5 metres deep. Burying undersea cables in a trench protects them from ships’ anchors – or even saboteurs.

Mike Smith’s striking image of the massive machine today won the professional category of a , an organisation that supports British manufacturers.

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