01 April 2025
The recent severing of the PEACE subsea cable in the Red Sea poses significant long-term challenges for global connectivity, with repairs potentially taking months to complete.
The breakage, located approximately 1,450km from Zafarnaat, Egypt, has not disclosed a specific cause, but the region has faced ongoing threats that may have contributed to the incident.
Reports indicate that the Red Sea area has become increasingly perilous due to Houthi attacks on vessels navigating Yemeni waters since November 2023. There are concerns that abandoned ships drifting in the area may have inadvertently damaged the subsea cables, complicating the situation further.
The repair endeavour is expected to stretch over several months, not only due to the complexities involved but also because the subsea connectivity industry is grappling with a shortage of cable-laying ships. Despite the commissioning of several new vessels in the past 18 months, many projects are experiencing delays, and some have even been re-routed.
The challenge lies in the ratio of operational subsea cables, which currently exceeds 400, with numerous new cables set to enter the market in the coming years. However, the global fleet of vessels capable of laying and maintaining these cables is limited to approximately 60 ships, many of which are older, resulting in a significant bottleneck in repair and installation efforts.
The PEACE cable, which spans 25,000km and connects 14 points across 13 countries — including France, Egypt, Cyprus, Kenya, the Maldives, Malta, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, the Seychelles, Singapore, Somalia, Tunisia, and the UAE — plays a crucial role in global communications. Notably, UAE-based telecom operator du recently announced a partnership to extend the PEACE subsea cable system into the UAE and Gulf region, highlighting its importance to the region’s connectivity infrastructure.
As the situation with the PEACE subsea cable unfolds, stakeholders across the telecommunications industry and broader economy will be closely monitoring the repair timelines and the implications for connectivity in the affected regions.
