New threats have recently emerged from Iranian-backed Houthi attacks on shipping in the Red Sea, causing delays in goods arriving in Europe from Asia.
The United States said last week that it believes the recent sinking of a Belize-flagged, Lebanese-operated fertilizer ship severed a vital undersea cable that provides internet connectivity between East and West.
The Feb. 18 attack on the M/V Rubimar “forced the crew to drop anchor and abandon ship,” a U.S. defense official said.
“Preliminary assessments indicate that the anchor dragged along the ocean floor likely severed an undersea cable that provides internet and telecommunications services around the world,” the official added.
First environmental threat, now Internet disruption
The Rubimar subsequently sank, causing some environmental disaster. A 29 km (18 mile) oil slick appeared shortly after the attack, according to the US military’s Central Command (CENTCOM).
There are currently concerns that if the fertilizer cargo were to leak, it could cause further damage.
Although the Houthis were not directly responsible for the damage to the undersea cables, their attacks increased the likelihood of other similar incidents and increased the threat to internet connectivity in the region.
The 16 fiber optic cables in the Red Sea run along the ocean floor and transmit internet data at near the speed of light.
According to media reports, the damage to the cables was so severe that a quarter of internet traffic between Asia and Europe was interrupted.
“Ship anchor accidents are the second leading cause of submarine cable failures,” Tim Strong, vice president of research at Washington-based communications research firm Telegeography, wrote in a recent blog post. Stated. “On average, every week he has two cable failures somewhere in the world.”
Repeated attacks increase risks to submarine internet cables
But Strong added that Houthi attacks on shipping pose a “real challenge” as sunken ships pose underwater dangers for cables and cable-laying vessels.
Houthi attacks have not only increased insurance costs for container shipping, but also covered ships helping to install undersea internet infrastructure, which could make laying new cables in the Red Sea ‘prohibitive’ Strong said.
“The real problem in areas where there is a risk of war is that you can’t repair cables the same way you can in other places.” Peter Sand, principal analyst at Copenhagen-based maritime research firm Zeneta, said: he told DW. “Currently, we cannot send cable repair ships to the Red Sea.” [due to the risk of attack.]
of wall street journal This week, industry experts were quoted as saying the cost of insuring cable ships near Yemen was as much as $150,000 a day.
Alternative cable routes need to be considered
Meanwhile, telecom industry experts are calling for further action from the government to force the industry to find alternative routes for internet cables to reduce disruption from undersea line cuts.
For example, crossing Saudi Arabia by land could completely avoid the Red Sea and other high-risk areas in the Middle East. But they warn that land-based cabling is often much more costly.
The Houthis, who control much of war-torn Yemen, have announced they are targeting Israeli, U.S. and British-linked ships in the Red Sea in retaliation for Israel’s war against the Palestinian militant group Hamas in Gaza.
The Iranian-backed group has targeted dozens of ships since late last year, and the Rubimar was the first ship to sink as a result of their attacks.
In the first deadly attack by the Houthis, the Barbados-flagged, Greek-operated True Confidence was hit with a missile last Wednesday, setting the ship ablaze and killing two Filipino and one Vietnamese crew. did.
The Houthis deny targeting undersea communications cables, but their near-daily attacks have prompted many global shipping companies to avoid the Red Sea and nearby Suez Canal and head to the Mediterranean. .
Instead, many ships take the longer, more dangerous route around southern Africa and on to Europe, taking an additional seven to 10 days.
Rising risks are driving up shipping insurance premiums, while changing routes is driving up fuel, labor and other costs as more ships are needed to traverse long-distance routes.
Shipping costs also rose sharply at the end of last year, but have been declining since the end of January.
If more people die, more ships could use the African route.
Despite the risks, some shipping companies continue to use the Red Sea. but,The True Confidence fatality and undersea cable breakage could prompt more companies to take safer routes around Africa.
“Every company does its own risk assessment. This explains why some companies are still shipping.” [The Red Sea].However, there were victims, and a line may have been crossed that should not be crossed. [on True Confidence]” Sand said.
The latest attack could even trigger tougher measures by Western militaries, which have imposed naval missions in nearby waterways to protect vital shipping trade from Asia to Europe.
The United States and Britain sent warships to the area in November when the attacks first began. Last month, another European Union naval mission was launched in the Middle East with support from several EU countries, including Germany.
“I don’t see a large-scale military response,” Sand told DW. “This is a tug-of-war, so we hope that navies in the region will continue to conduct a thorough investigation of the objectives that need to be addressed to ensure the safe navigation of merchant ships.”
Editor: Ashutosh Pandey
