Around the 6th September 2025, 15 undersea cables in Bab el-Mandeb Strait in the Red Sea were severed, resulting in increased latency and widespread disruptions in internet provision across the Middle East
Around the 6th September 2025, 15 undersea cables in Bab el-Mandeb Strait in the Red Sea were severed, resulting in increased latency and widespread disruptions in internet provision across the Middle East and South Asia. As this incident illustrated, modern communications are profoundly dependent on vulnerable sub-sea infrastructure. This comes against a backdrop of increased hostile action against subsea cables, with the UK and Japan both recently announcing measures to secure vital cable infrastructure.
While the most recent damage appears to have been accidental, it further illustrates the deficiencies of the international legal regime for management and protection of these vital assets.
Geopolitical context
The Red Sea is an area of major geopolitical interest. It sits between Africa and Asia, and is surrounded by States who are major players in energy industries. The region is also characterized by geopolitical tension, with Saudi Arabia and Iran vying for supremacy and large external powers like the US and China exercising considerable influence over relations in both Africa and the Middle East. The Houthis, an opposition military group operating from Yemen, have since October 2023 attacked many ships in the Red Sea, prompting speculations that it was they who damaged the undersea cables
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