Red Sea attacks: 3 underwater data cables cut as Yemen’s Houthis hit container ship with missile

Three cables under the Red Sea that provide global internet and telecommunications have been cut as the waterway remains a target of Yemen’s Houthi rebels, officials said. Meanwhile, a Houthi missile hit a container ship in the Gulf of Aden, but caused no injuries. What cut the lines remains unclear. There has been concern about the cables being targeted in the Houthi campaign, which the rebels describe as an effort to pressure Israel to end its war on Hamas in the Gaza Strip. The Houthis have denied attacking the lines, however. While global shipping has already been disrupted through the Red Sea, a crucial route for cargo and energy shipments from Asia and the Middle East to Europe, the sabotage of telecommunication lines could further escalate the months-long crisis. The cut lines include Asia-Africa-Europe 1, the Europe India Gateway, Seacom and TGN-Gulf, Hong Kong-based HGC Global Communications said on Monday. It described the cuts as affecting 25 per cent of the traffic flowing through the Red Sea. It described the Red Sea route as crucial for data moving from Asia to Europe and said it had begun re-routing traffic. China walks a fine line in the Red Sea. Will its diplomatic mission succeed? HGC Global Communications described the Seacom-TGN-Gulf line as being two separate cables when it is actually one at the area of the cut, according to Tim Stronge, a subsea cable expert with TeleGeography, a Washington-based telecommunications market research company. Responding to questions from Associated Press, Seacom said that “initial testing indicates the affected segment lies within Yemeni maritime jurisdictions in the Southern Red Sea”. It said it was re-routing the traffic that it was able to change, though some services were down. Tata Communications, part of the Indian conglomerate and behind the Seacom-TGN-Gulf line, said that it “initiated immediate and appropriate remedial actions” after the line was cut. “We invest in various cable consortiums to increase our diversity and hence in such situations of a cable cut or snag, we are able to automatically reroute our services,” Tata said. Other firms behind those lines, which provide data to Africa, Asia and the Middle East, didn’t respond to AP’s queries. In early February, Yemen’s internationally recognised government in exile alleged that the Houthis planned to attack the cables. The lines appeared to have been cut on February 24, with the organisation NetBlocks noticing internet access in the East African nation of Djibouti suffering from interruptions two days later. Seacom serves Djibouti. But for their part, the Houthis have denied targeting the cables. The rebels blamed the disruptions on British and US military operations, but didn’t offer evidence to support the allegation and have made false claims in the past. Since November, the rebels have repeatedly targeted ships in the Red Sea and surrounding waters over the Israel-Gaza war. Those vessels have included at least one with cargo bound for Iran, the Houthis’ main benefactor, and an aid ship later bound for Houthi-controlled territory. Red Sea faces ‘environmental disaster’ as sunk cargo ship spills oil, fertiliser Despite more than a month and a half of US-led air strikes, Houthi rebels have remained capable of launching significant attacks. They include the attack last month on a cargo ship carrying fertiliser, the Rubymar, which sank on Saturday after drifting for several days, and the downing of an American drone worth tens of millions of dollars. The Houthis insist their attacks will continue until Israel stops its combat operations in the Gaza Strip, which have enraged the wider Arab world and seen the Houthis gain international recognition. Meanwhile, Houthi militants attacked and damaged a Liberian-flagged, Swiss-owned container vessel on Monday in the Gulf of Aden. The MSC Sky II, managed by MSC Mediterranean Shipping Co, was about 146km (91 miles) southeast of the Yemeni city of Aden when a blast occurred, the UK Navy said. The Houthis fired two missiles, one of which hit the ship, according to the US military. “Initial reports indicate there were no injuries,” US Central Command said on X on Tuesday. “The ship did not request assistance and continued on its way.” The Houthis claimed the attack. MSC Mediterranean Shipping declined to comment. March 4 Red Sea Update On Mar. 4, at approximately 2:15a.m. (Sanaa time), Iranian-backed Houthi terrorists fired an anti-ship ballistic missile from Yemen into the southern Red Sea. The missile impacted the water with no reported damage or injuries to commercial or U.S. Navy… pic.twitter.com/mqigHoON4b — U.S. Central Command (@CENTCOM) March 5, 2024 Earlier, security company Ambrey Analytics said the explosion damaged an accommodation block as well as one other part of the ship. It remains unclear how the Houthis could attack subsea cables themselves. The rebels aren’t known to have the diving or salvage capability to target the lines, which sit hundreds of metres below the surface of the waterway. However, subsea cables can be cut by anchors, including those dropped from some of the ships that have been disabled in attacks. A drifting ship with its anchor scraping the sea could be the culprit. “Our team thinks it is plausible that it could have been affected by anchor dragging, due to the amount of marine traffic the region deals with and the low seabed in many parts of the Red Sea,” Seacom said. “This can only be confirmed once the repair ship is on site.” There are 14 cables now running through the Red Sea, with another six planned, said Stronge, the subsea cable expert. “We estimate that over 90 per cent of communications between Europe and Asia traverse submarine cables in the Red Sea,” he said. “Fortunately, telecom operators have built a high degree of redundancy into the system – there are many cables traversing the Red Sea.” The Houthis later warned any cable-laying ship entering Yemeni waters needed a permit from the rebels “out of concern for its safety”. Additional reporting by Agence France-Presse and Bloomberg

Red Sea attacks: 3 underwater data cables cut as Yemen’s Houthis hit container ship with missile

Communications companies are re-routing traffic after underwater cables cut in the Red Sea US says a Houthi missile has damaged a Swiss-owned container vessel in the Gulf of Aden

Communications companies are re-routing traffic after underwater cables cut in the Red Sea

US says a Houthi missile has damaged a Swiss-owned container vessel in the Gulf of Aden