Seacom announced recently that it had 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 restoring and testing individual client services has now been concluded.
Seacom, in collaboration with its trusted repair partners, has made significant progress with their mobilisation strategy.
However, Seacom’s Red Sea cable break is taking much longer to complete due to the geopolitical instability in the region, particularly near the coast of 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. We anticipate the repair process to be completed in early Q3 2024,” Seacom stated on Monday.
“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.