As of: March 6, 2024, 1:26 p.m
By: Fabian Hartmann
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Several submarine cables have been cut in the Red Sea.
This has significant consequences for international data traffic.
Are the Houthis responsible?
Sanaa - Several submarine cables that are crucial to global internet and telephone connections have been cut off the coast of Yemen in the Red Sea.
It is believed that the cables were cut as a result of an attack by a Houthi militia on an international merchant ship.
According to the online service Submarine Cable Map, around fifteen submarine cables run under the bed of the Red Sea from Asia to Europe.
According to the Hong Kong network operator HGC, four of them are no longer functional as a result of the incident.
A good quarter of data traffic between Europe, the Middle East and Asia is now affected by the disruption, it said.
Many service providers have already started redirecting their data traffic accordingly.
A total of four submarine cables in the Red Sea have been cut - with far-reaching consequences
The severed cables also include the Asia-Africa-Europe 1 (AAE1).
It is used, among others, by the German internet exchange operator DE-CIX.
Since 2017, the approximately 25,000 kilometer long undersea cable has connected 19 countries from France to Hong Kong and supplies them with internet speeds of up to 40 terabytes per second.
In addition, the Europe India Gateway, Seacom and TGN-Gulf cable connections were cut.
The Europe India Gateway connection is used by the French telecommunications company Altice, BT from Great Britain and the US provider Verizon.
Delays are already being felt in India and Pakistan, for example, it said.
In addition, the Internet in the East African country of Djibouti is said to be suffering from interruptions, writes the
Associated Press
(AP) news agency.
Yemen's Houthi rebels deny involvement in the incidents
How the submarine cables were damaged initially remained controversial.
According to
the
Süddeutsche Zeitung
Israeli media have been speculating for several days that the Yemeni Houthi militia could be responsible for the incidents.
The Yemeni government also accused the Iran-backed Houthi militia of planning attacks on submarine cables in the Red Sea.
However, the Houthis denied involvement in the incidents.
It remained unclear, for example, whether the Houthis had sufficient technology to attack the lines hundreds of meters below the sea surface.
The Yemeni Houthi rebels have been repeatedly attacking international merchant shipping in the Red Sea for months.
As a result, only about half of the cargo ships travel the route through the Suez Canal.
Many shipping companies preferred to take a detour via the Cape of Good Hope in South Africa.
However, this is significantly more expensive and often takes several weeks.
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“Ship was apparently adrift in the sea” – Its anchor could have damaged the submarine cables
According to DE-CIX technical director Thomas King, the anchor of a cargo ship attacked by the Houthi rebels caused the cable damage.
As he explained to
Handelsblatt
, his company had received relevant information from the operating company of the AAE1 cable.
The British cargo ship Rubymar © IMAGO/Wang Shang
“The ship was apparently drifting through the Red Sea without a driver.” According to King, the problem occurred on February 24th.
Since then, his company has also been redirecting data traffic between Europe and Asia via an alternative cable, as he explained to
Handelsblatt
.
This also lies at the bottom of the Red Sea.
According to other sources, it is said to be the freighter Rubymar, which has since sunk.
Further attacks on submarine cables could mean massive restrictions on data supply
Despite the significant impact on international data supply, King remained calm: “For us, it’s business as usual for now,” he said.
Providers like DE-CIX usually have a redundant infrastructure that can easily compensate for individual failures.
Things only become really problematic when all cables along a certain route, like the one in the Red Sea, are cut at the same time.
It could then become difficult to accommodate data traffic via alternative routes, such as around southern Africa.
Significant restrictions on data traffic or even a complete collapse cannot be ruled out.
(
fh)