Four maritime cables, which account for 25% of submarine traffic in the region, were damaged.
Four of the 15 undersea telecommunications cables connecting Europe, Asia and Africa were damaged in the Red Sea. This was announced yesterday by HGC Global Communications Limited, based in Hong Kong.
These links include Asia-Africa-Europe 1 (AAE-1), Europe India Gateway, Seacom and TGN, which HGC estimates account for 25% of the region’s traffic. The company called the affected routes critical for sending data from Asia to Europe.
It is indicated that HGC has prepared in advance for such incidents, taking into account past experience, and, if possible, has already started redirecting traffic flows to other lines, but some services of information is still disconnected.
“The initial analysis showed that the damaged parts of the cable were located in the southern Red Sea, which is under the jurisdiction of Yemen,” an HGC spokesman told the AP.
The company did not specify how exactly or by whom they were damaged.
Telecom company Tata Communications, which is associated with Seacom-TGN-Gulf, told the AP it had “initiated immediate and appropriate remedial action.” The remaining companies associated with the damaged cables did not comment on the situation to the agency.
A spokesman for South Africa’s Seacom told CNN that work to restore the cable will not begin for at least a month because underwater work in the region requires a lengthy permitting process.
According to AP, the lines may have been cut on February 24. And two days later, the Internet monitoring organization Netblocks recorded difficulties accessing it in Djibout, which is served by a submarine cable communication system from at Seacom.
It is not yet clear what disabled the cables, but Houthi attacks on ships and ships continue in the Red Sea area. The AP said it was unclear whether the Houthis had the ability to destroy communication lines that run along the seabed hundreds of meters below sea level. However, cables can be caught and damaged by an anchor dropped from a vessel.
“Our team believes that due to the high volume of maritime traffic in the region and the shallow depth in many parts of the Red Sea, the cables may have been caught by an anchor,” explained Seacom.
According to maritime cable expert Tim Stronge of Washington-based TeleGeography, 90% of information flows between Europe and Asia pass through Red Sea infrastructure.
At the same time, AP recalled, the Houthis had previously demanded that any cable-laying vessel entering Yemeni waters obtain permission from them to carry out work.
Earlier, the media reported that the Houthis had disabled four submarine cables. This caused a serious disruption in communications between Europe and Asia.
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Source: korrespondent
I am David Wyatt, a professional writer and journalist for Buna Times. I specialize in the world section of news coverage, where I bring to light stories and issues that affect us globally. As a graduate of Journalism, I have always had the passion to spread knowledge through writing.