2024-03-07 09:47:57
A report by Bloomberg News revealed that the broken anchor of the ship “Rubimar”, which was attacked by the Houthis and led to its sinking, is the likely reason for cutting communications cables in the Red Sea last February.
Reports indicated that 3 communications cables were damaged in the Red Sea in late February.
Bloomberg quoted the Director General of the International Committee for the Protection of Submarine Cables, Ryan Wopschall, as saying, “The Houthi bombing most likely caused the ship’s anchor to fall, resulting in damage to cables close to the site of its fall under the water.”
The committee, the group that represents submarine cable operators, faces obstacles in ensuring repairs to these cables, in light of the continuing Houthi attacks.
The Rubimare, a Belize-flagged commercial ship carrying 41,000 tons of fertilizer, was subjected to a Houthi missile attack in mid-February off the western coast of Yemen.
Days later, communications cables were damaged in the same area.
The crew abandoned the 172-meter-long ship after dropping one of its anchors, and the ship drifted for nearly two weeks through the Red Sea area crowded with cables, before it sank on Saturday.
The Internet and the Red Sea
- The Red Sea is an important route to connect Europe’s Internet infrastructure to Asia.
- All three cables were taken offline as a result of the attacks.
- These cables carry about 25 percent of the region’s communications capacity, according to estimates.
- Although communications data passing through the damaged cables were rerouted, the incident highlights the vulnerability of critical infrastructure under the Red Sea, especially in relatively shallow waters.
- The location also presents significant challenges to cable repair, and operators are scrambling to determine what type of insurance their maintenance companies need to operate in conflict zones.
- Under normal circumstances, ships can access submarine cable maps and avoid dropping their anchors in those areas.
- There are 14 cables in service running across the Red Sea, in addition to 6 more cables planned.
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