Seacom only expects its subsea cable system in the Red Sea to be repaired in the third quarter of 2024, six months after a suspected ship’s anchor severed it and two other cable systems in the politically unstable region.
Seacom said on Monday that it has completed repairs to a separate cable break off the coast of KwaZulu-Natal that occurred last month and also impacted the Eassy cable, which runs along a similar route.
Both Eassy and Seacom, which were severed by a suspected anchor from a trawler, were repaired by the Orange Marine-owned cable-laying vessel, the Léon Thévenin. The physical repair on Seacom was completed on 31 May, and the process of restoring and testing individual client services has now also been concluded.
Seacom’s Red Sea cable break is taking much longer to complete, however, due to the geopolitical instability in the region, particularly near the coast with Yemen, where the cable break is situated. There, Iranian-backed Houthi rebels have been targeting shipping, with attacks intensifying since Israeli’s anti-Hamas war operations began in Gaza.
“Regarding the cable repair operations in the Red Sea, Seacom and its trusted repair partners have made significant progress with their mobilisation strategy,” Seacom said in Monday’s statement. “Current projections estimate the repair process will be completed in early Q3 2024.”
“In the wake of unfortunate disruptions to our service, we have moved swiftly to mitigate the impact of the fault and have worked around the clock to complete all necessary repairs to our infrastructure,” said Prenesh Padayachee, chief digital officer at Seacom. – © 2024 NewsCentral Media
