The Peace subsea cable has suffered a cut in the Red Sea.
First reported by Submarine Cable Networks, the breakage is located some 1,450km from Zafarnaat, Egypt.
At the time, the cause of the breakage is not known, however, the Red Sea has historically presented a challenge to the subsea cable industry.
In recent years, the Houthis - officially known as Ansar Allah - have been attacking ships passing by Yemeni water since November 2023. Abandoned ships have been accused of drifting and damaging subsea cables. In February last year, three cables were damaged by the dragging anchor of the Rubymar cargo ship after it was hit by Houthi missiles.
The repair is expected to take several months. This is likely due to the cable ship capacity crunch, which has seen many projects delayed, and some re-routed. The industry has been suffering from a shortage of repair ships, despite several new vessels entering service in the last 18 months.
The 25,000km Peace cable connects 14 points across 13 countries; France, Egypt, Cyprus, Kenya, the Maldives, Malta, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, the Seychelles, Singapore, Somalia, Tunisia, and the UAE.
The cable was first put into service last September.
Peace is operated and privately owned by Hong Kong-based telecoms company PCCW Global. However, the branching units are owned by telco partners. Cyta owns the Cyprus branch, whilst GO owns the Malta branch, Ooredoo owns the Tunisia branch, and Zain owns the Jeddah branch.
Du also owns a branch to the UAE, which is set to be completed in 2026.
The Huawei-made Peace cable was first constructed in 2022, linking Marseille in France to Egypt. Extensions to Pakistan and Kenya were completed in 2022.
An extension of the cable to Tunisia landed in Bizerte in February last year, in partnership with Ooredoo's local unit. In the same month, the cable landed in Kulhudhuffushi in the Maldives.
The cable has a capacity of up to 96Tbps for the Pakistan-Egypt segment and 192Tbps for the Mediterranean segment from Egypt to France. The capacity of the Singapore splice is not known.
There have been several cable cuts recently, mainly concentrated in the Baltic Sea area, including the Estelink 2 subsea cable. Most recently, a cable connecting Latvia to Sweden’s Gotland Island was damaged in the Baltic Sea. The Latvian government suggested the cable was damaged due to external factors, with the Swedish Coast Guard detaining a vessel named Vezhen.
US and European intelligence officials have suggested the cable cuts are likely the result of maritime accidents, not Russian sabotage.
It has not stopped Europe from responding, with the European Commission launching an initiative for subsea cable security, Germany launching an underwater stealth drone, and NATO creating a new military program for subsea infrastructure.
