Big Hulking Ship Off Hermosa Beach Keeps Internet Afloat

HERMOSA BEACH, CA -- Off the coast of Hermosa Beach sits a big hulking, blue-and-white ship and its job is to make your internet better -- or at least keeps it from dying.

The ship is the IT Intrepid and it's a cable-laying ship. While most of us are no longer tethered to a cord when connecting to the internet, communications between servers -- the computers that house the internet -- still rely on those cables.

The ship is owned by International Telecom, a Canadian company that is responsible for installing and maintaining underwater cable systems worldwide, according to its website. The ship can install cables at any depth, according to the website.

The ship is expected to depart from the Hermosa Beach coast Friday. It is, however, expected to remain off the California coast for another week or so, according to the U.S. Coast Guard.

Ships, such as the Intrepid, are at sea for months at a time, which makes their bulk a necessity.

Photo courtesy of International Telecom