Patent ID: 7449636

Claim:
A bend stiffener for coupling a subsea unit at a location along an ocean cable, comprising: an elongate first member having a first longitudinal conduit, wherein the first elongate member defines a termination part designed to connect to the subsea unit; and an elongate second member having a second longitudinal conduit connected to an end of the first member thereby effectively extending a length of the bend stiffener, wherein the first member has a chosen resilience in order to be able to obtain a suitable bend when the bend stiffener is subject to a first load, while the second member is designed so as to have less resilience than the first member, whereby the second member starts bending earlier than the first member when the bend stiffener is subjected to a second load smaller than the first load, wherein the first and second members are each provided with at least one channel, the channels extending from the second member to a hydrophone with surfaces of the channels having a nonmetallic material, and the second member having a resilience adapted to transfer incident pressure waves into the channel therein.