Summary
- SEACOM, a leading ICT services provider in Africa, experienced a service outage on its subsea cable system on February 24, 2024.
- The disruption affects the cable segment running from Mombasa (Kenya) to Zafarana (Egypt), located in the Red Sea region.
- The cable break’s location in the geopolitically sensitive Red Sea region poses challenges for maintenance and repair operations, complicating the resolution process.
SEACOM has faced a significant service outage on its subsea cable system. The disruption, which occurred on the 24th of February 2024, affects the segment running from Mombasa, Kenya, to Zafarana, Egypt. Initial assessments suggest that the disruption is situated in the Red Sea. This is impacting not only SEACOM’s cable but also affecting other cables in the region.
The location of the cable break, within the vicinity of the Red Sea, is not a surprise due to its geopolitical sensitivity and ongoing tensions in the area. This poses challenges for the maintenance and repair operations. There have been a rise in attacks in that region by the Houthis. It is still not clear if the latest service outage is as a result of this.
While SEACOM is currently unable to confirm the cause of the disruption, the company is actively collaborating with its cable repair partner to assess the feasibility of repair in the region. Despite the challenges, SEACOM continues to carry traffic on its own cable, maintaining connectivity between Kenya, Tanzania, Mozambique, and South Africa for both Transmission and IP services.
IP-Based Services Rerouted
In response to the outage, SEACOM has rerouted all IP-based services destined for Europe and other regions through alternative routes on the Equiano, PEACE, and WACS cable systems. This rerouting is supported by SEACOM’s terrestrial infrastructure with some latency in their internet communications.
SEACOM had informed its customers on the 5th of February about the possibility of disruptions to the cable system. The cautionary alert highlighted potential delays in repair operations due to the instability of the region.
SEACOM is working towards establishing restoration timelines and has committed to communicating these plans with its clients.
Also Read: Interview with Tejpal Bedi, Managing Director at SEACOM East Africa