Dubai, United Arab Emirates (AP) – Possible ship Cut the Red Sea cable Internet access in Africa, Asia and the Middle East has been disrupted, experts said Tuesday, indicating the vulnerability of the line for more than a year since another incident cut them off.
The International Cable Protection Commission told The Associated Press that 15 submarine cables will pass through the narrow Bab El Mandev Strait, the south exit of the Red Sea that separates East Africa and the Arabian Peninsula.
Over the weekend, authorities from multiple countries identified the affected cables as Southeast Asia-Middle East and West Europe 4, India China East and West Europe, and Falcon GCX cables. On Tuesday, that list was expanded to include the European India Gateway Cable.
The first report suggested that a cut occurred on the coast of Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
“Early independent analyses show that the potential source of damage is commercial transport activities in the area,” John Lottesley, operations manager for the committee, told the Associated Press. “Damage to submarine cables from dragged anchors accounts for about 30% of incidents representing approximately 60 faults each year.”
Madrid also told the AP that the work assumption was a commercial vessel that dropped the anchor and dragged it onto four cables to disconnect it. Cables in the Red Sea can be shallower depth, making it easier for anchor dragging to affect them.
Submarine cables, along with satellite connections and land cables, are one of the backbones of the Internet. Typically, an Internet service provider has multiple access points and reroutes traffic in the event of a failure.
However, reroute traffic can cause delays or delays for Internet users. Madrid said at least 10 countries in Africa, Asia and the Middle East appeared to have been affected by cable cuts. Among those countries were India, Pakistan and the United Arab Emirates.
“No one is completely offline, but each provider has lost a subset of international transport,” Madrid said. “So if you imagine this is the equivalent of a pipeline and losing the amount of water coming down the pipe… right now you just have a little bit of traffic.”
Cable security was a concern even during the Hauti rebel attacks on Yemeni ships. Israeli Hama War in the Gaza Strip. In early 2024, Yemen’s internationally recognized government in exile claimed that the Houtis was planning to attack the submarine cable. A few were cut by a ship attacked by a Houchys probably dragging that anchor, but Rebels denied being held responsible.
