Repairs on key undersea cables in the Red Sea begin amid escalating Houthi attacks, highlighting the challenges of maintaining critical communication links in a conflict zone.
Repairs Begin on Critical Red Sea Cables Amid Escalating Houthi Attacks
In a significant development for maritime communication, repairs have finally started on three undersea telecommunications cables damaged in February in the Red Sea, amidst increasing attacks on ships by Houthi militants in the area.
The AAE-1 cable, a 25,000-kilometer fiber optic link between Asia and Europe, has been repaired by a vessel from E-Marine, a subsidiary of the Emirates Telecommunications Group based in Abu Dhabi. The cable was brought back online this week, according to an official from the Yemeni government. The same vessel, Niwa, remains in Yemeni waters to repair the other two cables, Seacom and EIG.
These cables, part of over a dozen that traverse the Red Sea, were cut by the anchor of the cargo ship Rubymar, which was sunk by Houthi militants backed by Iran at the end of February.
Challenges of Repairing Undersea Cables in a Conflict Zone
Repairing these cables requires access to infrastructure in Yemeni waters, a task complicated by the divided state of the country’s government and the Red Sea being a conflict zone. Negotiations took months between the cable operators and the two factions controlling Yemen—the internationally recognized government in the south and the Houthi-supported government in Sanaa—to organize the repair mission.
“These are some of the largest data highways connecting Europe, the Middle East, India, and Asia,” said Roderick Beck, a consultant who sources network capacity on undersea cables for telecommunications clients. “The downtime forced operators to completely reroute traffic by constructing new digital highways using new cables, at considerable costs and by working around the clock.”
Although telecommunications data passing through the damaged cables has been rerouted, the incident highlighted the vulnerability of critical undersea infrastructure and the difficulties of conducting repairs in the Red Sea, one of the world’s most important maritime routes and a conflict zone since late 2023.
Disputes and Delays in the Repair Process
The consortium operating the AAE-1 cable, including Emirates Telecommunications Group, Telecom Egypt, and the Saudi company Mobily, initially faced difficulties obtaining a permit from the internationally recognized Yemeni government due to a dispute involving one of the consortium members, TeleYemen. While the government approved permits for the other two cables in May, it denied the permit for the AAE-1 cable and launched a criminal investigation into TeleYemen’s alleged connections with the Houthi militia.
The ongoing conflict and the strategic importance of the Red Sea make maintaining and repairing these crucial communication links a significant challenge, underscoring the need for strong international cooperation and diplomatic efforts to protect and secure maritime infrastructure.
