I find it hard to believe that this drill from a simple mining ship is capable of:
• Disrupting long range sensors
• Jamming communications
• Rendering transporters useless
Just think about that for a moment. They have this simple tool that is the capable of rendering a lot of key space traveling components useless. Why would Nero ever turn the darn thing off? Is he afraid he might hit someone with the beam while traveling through space? The film NEVER establishes that the drill consumes enough power to hinder standard operations, so why doesn't he just keep the drill on?
And need I point out that this device is less of a drill and more like a glorified phaser array? Those things that shoot constant beams of energy that cuts into solid objects and has even been used on planet environments like land? Calling this thing a drill is like me calling a gatling gun a lawnmower even though all I do is shoot at the grass.
And why cut in the middle of the water? The moment you turn that drill off, all that water is going to flood down into the hole and refill it with dirt.
Freaking context sensitive plot devices. And to think everyone praised this film for not using technobabble to pull things out of their @($ in order to save the day.
