Anchor strikes, landslides, and geopolitical tensions threaten global connectivity
September 2025
Red Sea Multi-Cable Severing
Multiple cables near Jeddah, Saudi Arabia severed — SEA-ME-WE-4, IMEWE, FALCON GCX, and Europe India Gateway. Caused widespread latency surges across Asia & Middle East. Probable cause: commercial vessel anchor drag.
Critical — 4 cables affected
June 2024
Vietnam Connectivity Crisis
Three of Vietnam's five submarine cables simultaneously out of service, severely disrupting internet performance across the country for weeks.
Critical — 60% cables down
March 2024
West Africa Undersea Landslide
Underwater landslide in the "Le Trou Sans Fond" canyon off Côte d'Ivoire damaged four cables simultaneously, causing massive outages across Ghana, Liberia, and neighboring countries.
Critical — 4 cables, multiple countries
2024–2025
Baltic Sea & Taiwan Incidents
Four incidents in the Baltic Sea (8 cable damages) and five around Taiwan (5 damages). Suspected mix of accidental anchor drags and deliberate interference amid geopolitical tensions.
Ongoing — Geopolitical concern
October 2023
SEA-ME-WE-5 & East Africa Outages
When SEA-ME-WE-5 went offline, latency spikes of ~40 ms observed between Europe and Asia. AAE-1, EIG, SEACOM, and TGN also damaged — degrading service across East Africa, South Asia, and Europe.
Major — 40ms latency surge
2023 Ongoing
Red Sea / Houthi Conflict Zone
Cables in the Red Sea corridor — one of the world's densest cable routes — face ongoing threat from the Yemen conflict. At least 15 major cables transit this narrow strait.
Strategic risk