Submarine telecommunications cable operator Seacom estimates it will take about two weeks to restore fully its link through the Mediterranean Sea, it said in a statement on Tuesday.

Seacom experienced a “service affecting outage in the Mediterranean on Saturday, 8 October between Abu Talat in Egypt and Marseilles in France”, it says. Seacom runs along Africa’s east coast, connecting SA in the south to landing stations in France and India.

“The estimated time of repair is expected to take approximately two weeks,” Seacom says. “The repair vessel has been notified of the call-out and mobilisation will occur once the necessary permits are received.”

The company says it has added “substantial restoration capacity to the network and by late afternoon Tuesday will have restored approximately 85% of its customers’ required services on alternate routes”.

“Seacom continues to monitor the situation closely and will provide customer updates regularly.” — Staff reporter, TechCentral