Cable-tap, 2015

As a result of the 2014 election leading to New Zealand/Aotearoa leaving the FVEY Echelon spying alliance (UK, USA, Canada, Australa, ex-NZ), the NSA has tasked a nuclear submarine to infiltrate and tap one of the core internet cable links from New Zealand/Aotearoa to the rest of the world. In the process of doing so, while surfacing to receive instructions, a civillian fishing vessel was struck and sunk. Irradiated waste water in the vincinity of the sinking, along with last-second emergency transmissions from the struck vessel has also been detected via a very precise network of radiation detectors (also previously used to confirm North Korean nuclear testing), leading the NZDF to the conclusion that a nuclear submarine is inside New Zealand territorial waters. As a result of this, and New Zealand/Aotearoa's firm anti-nuclear laws, the NZDF are now on full alert and allocating naval and air assets to identifying and eliminating the intruder. Historically, in 1971 the USS Hallibut tapped a Soviet underwater cable at a depth of 120m, using a moon well and divers that were probably equipped with Trimix. Current technology has improved and Trimix-assisted scuba diving is now possible to depths of approximately 1000 feet, however due to the shallowness of the gulf, current levels of crew training, and best practice risk minimisation practices, the SSN-23 Seawolf will tap the cable in an area under 120m deep.