Seacom has restored services to its customers following the completion of subsea repair operations on its East Africa (S1) cable.
The physical repair of the subsea cable was completed on 31 May and the process to restore and test client services back to the original operating characteristics prior to the cable break was completed subsequently.
“In the wake of unfortunate disruptions to our service, we have moved swiftly to mitigate the impact of the fault and have worked around the clock to complete all necessary repairs to our infrastructure,” says Prenesh Padayachee, chief digital officer of Seacom.
On 12 May, Seacom experienced a subsea Internet cable fault near the coastal town of Mtunzini in South Africa. This fault was caused by trawler activity in the region and led to impacted transiting services in South Africa towards Mozambique and Tanzania, with Seacom customers across the region experiencing temporary interruptions in connectivity.
In response, Seacom IP/MPLS services from East Africa and Mozambique towards South Africa were rerouted to alternate pathways, and repair efforts were commenced.
The cable-laying ship, the Léon Thévenin, departed from Cape Town on 14 May to conduct repairs on the Seacom cable as well as the East Africa Submarine Cable System (EASSy) cable, which had also suffered a fault.
Regarding the cable repair operations in the Red Sea, Seacom and trusted repair partners have made significant progress with their mobilisation strategy. Current projections estimate the repair process will be completed early in the third quarter of 2024.