Seacom has encountered a service-affecting outage on its subsea cable system, beginning on 24 February 2024.
The disruption is only on the segment of the cable that runs from Mombasa (Kenya) to Zafarana (Egypt). Initial assessments suggest that the disruption to the subsea cable occurred within the vicinity of the Red Sea, and other cables in the area appear to have also been impacted.
“At this time, Seacom is unable to confirm the cause of the disruption but is working with its cable repair partner to assess the feasibility of the repair in the region,” according to a statement from the company. “The location of the cable break is significant due to its geopolitical sensitivity and ongoing tensions, making it a challenging environment for maintenance and repair operations.”
Seacom is still carrying traffic on its own cable between Kenya, Tanzania, Mozambique and South Africa for both transmission and IP services.
All other IP-based services destined for Europe and other regions were automatically rerouted via Seacom’s alternative routes on Equiano, PEACE and WACS cable systems and supported by its diverse terrestrial infrastructure, ensuring its clients remain operational with some latency in their Internet communications.
“Although the impact on some of its clients has an impact on their businesses across East and Southern Africa, Seacom has been working diligently to ensure the continuity of its services,” the statement adds.
Seacom issued a cautionary statement on 5 February that any disruptions to the cable system could be impacted by delays in repair operations due to the instability of the area. The team is currently working towards restoration timelines and will communicate these plans with aclients.