Roger’s $0.02 - Vulnerability of Undersea Cables (Patreon)

Four submarine cables were cut in the Red Sea late last month, disrupting internet traffic to Europe, the Middle East, and Asia. Although the investigation is ongoing, the culprit looks to be the anchor of the cargo ship Rubymar. The ship was struck by an anti-ship missile launched by Houthi rebels on Feb 18. Failing to save the ship, they ultimately had to drop anchor and abandon the vessel as it took on water. As the ship drifted northwards it dragged the anchor across the bottom of the sea where the cables are located, severing them in the process. While the incident has heightened already existing tensions in the area, it has also highlighted the vulnerability these cables represent.

The first transatlantic cable was laid between Europe and the United States in the mid-19th century. More than 500 submarine cables connect various continents to each other in a web of data connections unlike any before it. A vast majority of them hold fiber optic cables that carry telephony, internet, and private data traffic. Most are about 1 inch in diameter, except for the sections closer to shore where they’re usually bigger. Around 99% of internet traffic is carried via these cables from continent to continent.

Undersea cables are relatively fragile and they are often placed alongside heavily trafficked shipping routes like the Red Sea, the Mediterranean Sea, and the South China Sea. Most submarine cables aren’t buried for cost reasons, instead lying flat on the bottom of the sea or ocean floor. It doesn’t take very sophisticated equipment to damage one. An anchor being dragged along the sea floor while attached to a moving ship is all you need. Fixing it on the other hand is a different matter. To physically repair the cable,  you need to bring up severed ends to the surface with a grapnel aboard a ship designed for that purpose. The cables are then spliced back together and tested. If the seas are calm and sea-going traffic is light, the work is straightforward. However many of the locations are located in heavily trafficked sea lanes, and seas can be rough depending on the time of year. Finally, getting permits and permissions from all the relevant authorities takes time. So while the work can take only three to five days in calm weather, rough seas will add to the time. In other words, breaking is easy, but fixing is more complicated.

In times past, those cables were relatively secure from intentional meddling outside of Cold War antics. Oftentimes the only damage came from accidents. Nation-states and their governments are dependent on the connection to the broader data networks these cables provide. To purposely damage one would be cutting off your nose to spite your face. Yet as the world enters a period of prolonged geopolitical and global economic uncertainty, the cables provide would-be despots and high-stakes groups an enticing source of leverage over larger neighbors. As the world’s dependency on high-speed data connections continues to grow, the Achilles heel these networks present becomes more prevalent. Although the number of connections does provide some resilience to attacks, it doesn’t negate all the risks. It behooves national governments to come to some sort of consensus about rules regarding the neutrality of these vital data links.