Recently, an incident in the Red Sea region where a fiber optic cable was cut has aroused widespread concern. Specifically, four submarine cables were cut in the Red Sea between Jeddah, Saudi Arabia and Djibouti, East Africa, which affected the transmission of data signals between Asia, Europe and the Middle East. The disrupted cable systems include the Asia-Africa-Europe 1 (AAE-1), the South-East and South Africa Submarine Communications Cable (SECOM), the Europe-India Corridor (EIG), and the TGN connecting India-Saudi-France.
The bald head is not afraid of lice, and it is believed that this attack was largely not carried out by the Houthis
In the aftermath of the incident, the Houthis issued a statement dismissing responsibility and denying the attack on the submarine cable. In view of the frequent attacks by the Houthis on Israeli-related ships in the Red Sea and near Yemen since the outbreak of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict in October last year as a sign of support for Palestine, the Houthis are still regarded by some ** and observers as possible suspects in this incident.
However, the Houthis dare to admit even the use of missiles to attack civilian merchant ships in the Gulf of Aden, and the failure to admit cutting fiber optic cables is obviously not in line with the Houthis' daring style.
In the future, we need to wait for more conclusive evidence and investigation results to reveal the truth.
Cutting submarine fiber optic cables is not cutting vegetables
At present, the news report does not say the extent of the damage to the four submarine fiber optic cables and how they were damaged, but the difficulty of cutting the submarine fiber optic cables is actually very high.
First, submarine cables are often laid at the bottom of the deep ocean, away from land and areas of regular human activity, making it extremely difficult to reach and locate cables. The harsh environment of the deep sea, with its enormous water pressure and lack of light, makes any attempt to sabotage a huge technical challenge.
Secondly, the structural design of the optical cable itself also takes into account the factors that prevent external damage, such as the use of strong sheath and protective layer to enhance its ability to resist external damage.
The incident of the fiber optic cable being severed had a significant impact on global communications, mainly in terms of data transmission between Eurasia and the Middle East.
AAE-1 is an important intercontinental submarine cable connecting Asia, Africa and Europe, from Hong Kong in the east to Southeast Asia, South Asia, the Middle East and Africa in the west, and finally to Europe, providing critical information transmission services to these regions.
The South-East and South Africa Submarine Communication Cable (Seacom) is an important submarine fiber optic cable connecting Europe and Southeast Asia, and in Europe, the fiber optic cable connects major communication centers such as the United Kingdom, France, Germany, etc. In Southeast Asia, fiber optic cables cover countries such as Singapore, Malaysia, and Indonesia, all of which are important communications and data centers in the region.
The Europe India Gateway (EIG) is an important international submarine fiber optic cable in India, which connects Europe and India and passes through many countries and regions. The cable has a total length of about 15,000 kilometers and a design capacity of 384Tbps, mainly providing data connectivity services for businesses and consumers in countries and regions such as the United Kingdom, Europe, the Middle East and India.
The Trans-Global Network (TGN) fiber optic cable from India, Saudi Arabia and France is one of the important submarine cable systems connecting India, Saudi Arabia and France.
Europe is the most affected, with many uncertain risks to the east, and safer to the west.
If the Nord Stream pipelines are energy corridors, then submarine fiber optic cables can be described as "digital bridges" connecting the rest of the world.
As an important center of the global economy and technology, Europe has a huge demand for communication and data transmission. As the main means of communication connecting Europe with other continents, submarine fiber optic cables carry a large number of data transmission tasks. Once the fiber optic cable is cut, it will directly affect Europe's communication and data transmission capabilities, and then affect its economic, social and technological fields.
Now that the bridge to the east is broken, and the west is safe, which direction will you choose when you go out to do errands?
And who is to the west, I believe everyone knows.