Multiple subsea cables in the Red Sea have been severed, impacting a significant portion, approximately 25%, of the data traffic between Asia and Europe, as reported by a telecommunications company and a representative from the United States.
HGC Global Communications, headquartered in Hong Kong, has taken proactive measures to redirect traffic following the recent severance of four subsea cables, namely Red Sea - Seacom, TGN-Gulf, Asia-Africa-Europe 1, and Europe India Gateway. The precise cause behind this incident remains undetermined.
A US official has expressed interest in determining whether the cables were intentionally cut or accidentally snagged by an anchor.
Sources indicate that there are a total of 16 fiber-optic cables traversing the Red Sea, facilitating an estimated 17% of all international data traffic from East Asia to Europe.
During the current unrest, the cost can go high with Jeff Seal, a Global Market Analyst, highlighting the significant expense involved in repairing such cables. The cost of operating a cable repair vessel alone is approximately $152,909 per day.
Typically, the historical average repair duration spans approximately 20 days, with additional expenses incurred due to the necessity of rerouting and restoring communications through unaffected cable systems.
The disruption caused by damage to telecommunication cables has previously resulted in significant disturbances, notably in 2008 and 2011, when cables were compromised in the Mediterranean, Arabian Gulf, and the Indian Ocean.