Internet users in multiple countries across Africa, Asia and the Middle East experienced major disruptions after key subsea cable systems in the Red Sea were damaged.
Experts suggested a commercial vessel may have dragged its anchor across the lines.
The International Cable Protection Committee (ICPC) said 15 submarine cables run through the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, a strategic waterway between East Africa and the Arabian Peninsula.
Authorities over the weekend identified the damaged cables as the South East Asia–Middle East–Western Europe 4, the India-Middle East-Western Europe and the FALCON GCX systems.
The Europe India Gateway cable was later added to the list, according to Doug Madory, director of internet analysis at Kentik.
Initial reports indicated the damage occurred near Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, though the kingdom has not confirmed this, and companies managing the cables have not commented.
John Wrottesley, ICPC operations manager, told the Associated Press that early analysis pointed to “commercial shipping activity in the region” as the likely cause.
He noted that “damage to submarine cables from dragged anchors account for approximately 30 per cent of incidents each year representing around 60 faults.”
Madory said the working assumption was that a ship’s anchor severed the cables, which are laid at shallow depths in some parts of the Red Sea.
NetBlocks, an internet observatory, confirmed widespread disruptions in India, Pakistan and the United Arab Emirates, with Etisalat and Du customers reporting connectivity issues.
The cuts also affected other nations in Africa, Asia and the Middle East.
Microsoft confirmed that its Azure cloud platform had been impacted, saying that “multiple undersea fibre cuts in the Red Sea” caused increased latency for some users.
Traffic has been rerouted through alternate paths outside the Middle East to reduce disruptions, with the company clarifying that services not reliant on these routes remain unaffected.
The Red Sea is a key corridor for global fibre-optic infrastructure, making it vital for international internet traffic. The incident has renewed concerns about the security and vulnerability of subsea cables, which serve as the backbone of digital connectivity worldwide.
Experts warn that failures in these networks can have global ripple effects, impacting cloud services, businesses and individual users, underscoring the need for better protection of critical internet infrastructure.
