It is extremely unlikely, although not impossible, that saboteurs were responsible for the cut in Seacom and other undersea cables north of Egypt last Friday, Seacom CEO Mark Simpson says.

Simpson’s comments come after news on Thursday morning that Egyptian authorities had arrested three divers off the coast of Alexandria suspected of trying to sever the Sea-Me-We 4 cable system that runs through the region.

According to reports by international news wires, Egyptian naval forces, which made the arrests, have not furnished the alleged saboteurs’ motives for wanting to the cut Sea-Me-We 4. The cable is a crucial link between Europe, the Middle East and Asia.

Simpson tells TechCentral that the divers were arrested just hundreds of metres from the Egyptian shoreline, where the cable was fairly easily accessible.

Last week’s break to the Seacom cable, on the other hand, occurred nearly 20km from the shore in much deeper water. Simpson says the cable break also had all of the characteristics of a having been cut by a ship’s anchor being dragged along the sea bed, making it more unlikely the cut was due to sabotage.

“You can never say never, but I’d be very surprised [if it was sabotage],” Simpson says.

The Seacom CEO said earlier this week that “external aggression” caused by ships dragging their anchors “remains a common cause of damage to cable systems globally, despite our continued efforts to protect the cable with armour, burying, notifications to ships of cable locations, and exclusion zones.” — (c) 2013 NewsCentral Media