Undersea fiber-optic cables in the Red Sea were cut, degrading internet connectivity in parts of Asia and the Middle East, network monitors and technology firms said Sunday. It was not immediately clear what caused the damage.
Microsoft said on a status page that the Middle East "may experience increased latency due to undersea fiber cuts in the Red Sea," and that traffic not routed through the region was not affected. NetBlocks, which tracks global internet disruptions, said "a series of subsea cable outages in the Red Sea has degraded internet connectivity in multiple countries," identifying failures affecting the SMW4 and IMEWE cable systems near Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
The South East Asia–Middle East–Western Europe 4 (SMW4) system is operated by Tata Communications, part of the Indian conglomerate, while the India–Middle East–Western Europe (IMEWE) cable is run by a consortium with technology by Alcatel-Lucent. Neither Tata Communications nor the IMEWE consortium immediately responded to requests for comment. Pakistan Telecommunications Co. Ltd. acknowledged the cuts in a statement Saturday. Telecommunications providers in the United Arab Emirates reported slower speeds on state-owned Du and Etisalat networks; UAE authorities did not immediately comment.
NetBlocks reported that the outages had degraded connectivity in countries including India and Pakistan. Internet service providers typically have multiple access points and can reroute traffic when a cable fails, but such rerouting can slow speeds for users. Subsea cables are a backbone of global internet traffic alongside satellite and land-based networks, and significant damage can cause wide-ranging latency and reachability issues.
Subsea cables can be severed accidentally, for example by ship anchors, or they can be targeted deliberately; locating and repairing a damaged cable requires specialized ships and crews and can take days to weeks depending on conditions and the extent of the break. NetBlocks and technology firms said work to diagnose and address the problem was underway.
The cuts come amid a period of heightened maritime and regional tension tied to a campaign by Yemen's Houthi rebels. The Houthis have carried out dozens of attacks on commercial shipping and military vessels in the Red Sea and surrounding waters since late 2023, at times saying their actions were intended to pressure Israel over its offensive in Gaza. Israel has responded to some Houthi operations with airstrikes that it said targeted rebel leadership.
In early 2024, Yemen’s internationally recognized government in exile alleged that the Houthis planned to attack undersea cables in the Red Sea; several lines were cut at that time, though the Houthis denied responsibility for those incidents. On Sunday morning, the Houthi-owned al-Masirah satellite news channel acknowledged that cuts had occurred, citing NetBlocks.
From November 2023 into late 2024, monitoring groups and maritime authorities reported that the Houthi campaign had targeted more than 100 ships with missiles and drones, with multiple sinkings and mariner casualties documented. Investigators and operators have continued to examine the pattern and attribution of undersea cable incidents in the region.
Authorities and cable operators have not released a definitive cause for the latest breaks. Repair operations for subsea cables involve mobilizing specialized vessel assets to locate the damaged section, recover the cable to the surface and splice in new fiber, a process that can be delayed by sea conditions and security considerations. In the meantime, affected internet users and businesses in the Middle East and parts of Asia may continue to experience slower speeds and higher latency as traffic is rerouted.
Officials and companies involved in managing the SMW4 and IMEWE systems said they were monitoring service and coordinating responses, and updates were expected as diagnostics and repair planning progress.