At least four submarine internet cables ‘cut’ in Red Sea, Houthis deny role

Submarine internet cables have been “cut” in the Red Sea, causing “significant” disruption to communications networks in the Middle East, said Hong Kong telecoms company HGC Global Communications. Cables belonging to four major operators have been cut, which might impact internet traffic in India, Pakistan, and parts of East Africa as well. HGC Global claims at least 25 per cent of the traffic has been impacted and operators were now rerouting traffic to keep disruptions to a minimum and “extending assistance to affected businesses".

The company said it was “extremely rare” to have four cables damaged simultaneously.

It must be noted that there are more than 15 submarine internet cables in the Red Sea, a region witnessing massive shipping disruption due to attacks by Yemen-based Houthi rebels in the wake of the Israel-Hamas war.

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Cause of the cuts

None of the operators have yet disclosed the reason behind the cuts. Yemen also denied its role in the suspected sabotage, saying it was “keen to keep all telecom submarine cables…away from any possible risks.”

However, the West-backed Yemeni government in previous weeks had warned that Houthi rebels might seek to disrupt these cables to show support for Hamas and force the world to press Israel to stop attacks in Gaza.

Yemeni rebel leader Abdel Malek al-Houthi denied the allegations. “We have no intention of targeting sea cables providing internet to countries in the region,” he said.

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Houthis on the other hand have accused British and US military units operating there of being behind the suspected sabotage.

When are repairs expected?

CNN quoted South Africa-based Seacom, which owns one of the cable systems affected, as saying that the repair work won’t start for at least another month, as it needed to secure permits to operate in the sea.

Meanwhile, the continued security crisis in the Red Sea might also induce further delay in the repair work.

Underwater cables serve as the backbone of the internet, often financed in recent years by tech titans like Google, Microsoft, Amazon, and Meta, the parent company of Facebook. Disruptions to these subsea networks can lead to extensive internet blackouts, as seen in the aftermath of the Taiwan earthquake in 2006.

(With inputs from agencies)