Damage to cables in the Red Sea caused 'significant' data outages

At least four undersea cables running through the Red Sea have now been cut, affecting 25% of the world's internet traffic, Hong Kong-based telecommunications company HGC Global Communications, which operates part of its network services, announced on Monday.
"Of the more than 15 submarine cables in the Red Sea, four of them (Seacom, TGN, AAE-1, EIG) have been cut, which we estimate affects 25% of traffic," the company said in a statement.
According to the note, about 15% of internet traffic in Asia is routed westward, and 80% of that traffic travels through these submarine cables in the Red Sea.
Faced with the impact on communications globally, HGC assured that it has already taken the necessary steps to mitigate the outage with a "comprehensive diversity plan to reroute the affected traffic."
Some connections have been rerouted through the "northbound" cable network, which leaves Hong Kong, crosses China and heads to Europe; "eastbound", which follows a route through the United States to Europe; and "toward China".
The telecommunications company indicated that it was not only accommodating requests from its customers, but had also received requests from telecom operators in the North Africa and Middle East region for "emergency rerouting options from Hong Kong's westbound networks."
The exact cause of the cable damage has not been specified.

The International Cable Protection Committee (ICPC) has expressed concern about possible infrastructure damage. According to the organization, the global submarine cable network consists of more than 400 systems and 1.5 million kilometers of cables crossing the oceans, carrying more than 99% of the world's digital data traffic, including the Internet.