Self-floating cable for marine operations

Claim 1

In a self-floating cable with high flexibility, preferably for marine operations, comprising two separate conductor systems of which one transfers energy and the second is load-absorbing, the two conductor systems being surrounded by a common cable mantel and one of the systems being constituted of a number of inner conductors, an inner overlapping friction layer of plastic material with low friction coefficient when contacting its own surface, a metallic layer lying over said layer, a force absorbing layer lying over said metallic layer and an outer overlapping friction layer of plastic material with low friction coefficient when contacting its own surface lying nearest to the mantel of the cable and over the force absorbing layer, the improvement comprising that the force absorbing layer includes at least one tube of plastic material which in the longitudinal direction of the cable has a number of circumferentially situated grooves separated by spacer portions, the outer limitation surface of said portions of the utmost lying tube contacting the outer overlapping friction layer in a slipping contact relationship when influenced by external forces on the common cable mantel.