RED SEA - Fiber-Optic Cable Cut

An undersea fiber-optic cable cut in the Red Sea disrupted internet service across Pakistan and parts of South and West Asia, throttling connections that link Asia to Europe through Egypt’s Suez corridor. Network monitors and telecom firms said the incident occurred near Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, and affected two of the region’s main arteries—South East Asia–Middle East–Western Europe 4 (SEA-ME-WE 4) and India–Middle East–Western Europe (I-ME-WE)—forcing providers to reroute traffic and warning of slowdowns during peak hours as repairs get underway.

The incident strikes one of the world’s most crowded subsea corridors. More than 550 active cables now span about 1.4 million kilometers globally, and undersea systems carry well over 90% of intercontinental data. The Red Sea route is particularly dense because it provides the shortest path between Europe and Asia through the Suez landing stations, making disruptions there ripple across multiple countries at once.

Security concerns in the waterway have grown since late 2023, when Yemen’s Houthi movement began targeting commercial vessels in what it called solidarity with Palestinians and an effort to pressure Israel.

-themedialine.org, 8 September 2025

Commentary: Who are the Houthis? Google’s AI overview summarizes: “The Houthis, or Ansar Allah, are an Iranian-backed Zaidi Shia militant and political group that has controlled significant parts of Yemen since overthrowing the internationally recognized government in 2014.”

Of interest is the place—the Red Sea. According to Scripture, Israel crossed the Red Sea when they escaped from slavery in Egypt. Pharaoh and his military might attempted to do likewise, but perished in the Red Sea. The Psalmist proclaims: “But overthrew Pharaoh and his host in the Red sea: for his mercy endureth for ever” (Psalm 136:15).

Today, the Red Sea accommodates global communication, according to this report, and an immense amount of merchandise. The Suez Canal, at the northern end of the Red Sea, handles about 1.6 billion tons of merchandise, which represents almost 15% of the world’s trade.