Damage to submarine cables in the Red Sea: a challenge for global communications networks

Recently, it became known that at least four submarine cables belonging to major telecommunications networks were damaged in the Red Sea. This caused significant disruptions in communication networks in the Middle East, CNN reports.

Damage to undersea fiber optic cables in the Red Sea has disrupted telecommunications networks and forced providers to redirect almost a quarter of traffic between Asia, Europe and the Middle East, including Internet traffic.

Hong Kong-based telecommunications company HGC estimates that 25% of traffic between Asia and Europe, as well as the Middle East, was affected. Although the company said it was rerouting traffic to minimize disruption to customers, it did not say how the cables were damaged or who was responsible.

The affected cables include Seacom, TGN, Africa Asia Europe-One and Europe India Gateway. The damage to the cables comes a few weeks after the official Yemeni government warned of possible rebel attacks on the cables. This happened in the context of Iranian-backed militants who have already attacked commercial vessels on the most important waterway.

The Israeli news outlet Globes even claimed that the Houthis were behind the damage to the cables. However, Yemeni rebel leader Abdul Malek al-Houthi denies these accusations, claiming that their goal is not to target the marine cables that provide Internet access in the region.

In connection with the damage to the cables, Seacom, the South African company that owns them, said that repairs would not begin for at least a month, partly due to difficulties in obtaining work permits in the area.

Undersea cables, which are the invisible force that keeps the Internet running, have been the subject of investment in recent years by internet giants such as Google, Microsoft, Amazon and Facebook. Damage to these cables could lead to widespread disruptions to the Internet, which could significantly impact users around the world.

Finally, it should be noted that on the same day, users of Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube experienced a large-scale outage. Meta (the company that owns these social networks) confirmed the existence of the problem and said they were working on a solution.