The Sinking of the Rubymar and Its Impact on Internet Connectivity
A Cargo Ship’s Fateful Journey
On the evening of February 18, the Rubymar, a cargo ship traversing the Arabian Sea, was struck by a ballistic missile. The vessel, which had been routinely calling at local ports for months, found itself taking on water in the treacherous Bab-el-Mandeb Strait. Its crew of two dozen issued a distress call and prepared to evacuate the ship.
Analyzing the Rubymar’s Final Movements
In the two weeks following the incident, while the crew was safely ashore, experts tracked the last movements of the ill-fated Rubymar. Although a definitive conclusion can only be reached after an upcoming repair mission, multiple experts believe that the ship’s anchor is the most likely cause of the damage to the critical internet cables in the region.
The Growing Threat to Subsea Infrastructure
The incident involving the Rubymar and the damaged internet cables has highlighted the increasing concerns surrounding the security of subsea infrastructure, including both internet cables and energy pipelines. As Houthi weapons continue to target ships in the Red Sea region, there are fears that the Rubymar may not be the last vessel to fall victim to such attacks.
The Damage to Internet Cables
On February 18, at around 9:46 am local time, the Seacom cable went offline, according to Doug Madory, director of internet analysis at Kentik, a web monitoring firm. Just five minutes later, at approximately 9:51 am, the AAE-1 cable also dropped offline. A third cable, EIG, was already mostly offline due to a separate fault elsewhere. A telecom industry notice confirms the three faults and indicates that the damage is located approximately 30 kilometers from where the cables land in Djibouti, at depths of around 150 meters.
The loss of these submarine cables disrupted internet service for millions of people. While service providers in the affected countries have shifted to using the remaining cables, there exists a loss of overall capacity.
The outages impacted countries in East Africa, such as Tanzania, Kenya, Uganda, and Mozambique, as well as nations thousands of miles away, including Vietnam, Thailand, and Singapore.
The Resilience of Telecom Systems
The telecom industry incorporates backups into its systems to mitigate the impact of disruptions. When one cable goes offline, traffic is automatically rerouted through alternative paths. Companies like DE-CIX and HGC Global Communications successfully redirected data through different routes around the world.
Investigating the Cause of the Cable Damage
While an unconfirmed press report initially suggested that Houthi rebels might have sabotaged the cables, no public evidence has emerged to support this claim. Farzin Nadimi, a senior fellow at the Washington Institute think tank, believes that while the Rubymar is the most likely culprit, the possibility of Houthi sabotage should not be entirely discounted, as highly skilled divers could potentially reach the depths of the cables.
The Nature of the Cable Damage
Prenesh Padayachee, the chief digital officer of Seacom, states that the extent of the damage to the cable is not yet fully known. The cable could have been completely severed, or it may have been dragged along the seabed and bent to the point where light signals can no longer pass through it.
The Rubymar’s Anchor: A Plausible Scenario
Many experts in the marine and cable industry consider the Rubymar‘s drifting anchor as the most likely cause of the outage. The timing of the cable disruptions aligns with the ship’s predicted drifting speed and the distance between the affected cables, which are 700 to 1,000 meters apart.
Anchor damage is one of the most common causes of subsea internet cable disruptions, alongside earthquakes and landslides. The type of anchor and the soil composition play a crucial role in determining the likelihood of a cable being caught and damaged by a dragging anchor.
Considering the timings of when outages were reported, considering the rough location of where those cables are known to be, and considering where we believe to be the location of the Rubymar, I would say that there is a likely possibility that the anchor did cause the damage.
The Rubymar’s Final Moments
The Rubymar ultimately sank on March 2. Videos reportedly taken inside the ship, obtained by Saudi state-owned news organization Al Arabiya English, reveal the extent of the damage caused by the missile strike, with water pouring into the vessel. As the Rubymar took on more water and partially submerged, its drifting likely slowed and eventually came to a halt.
The Road to Recovery
The three damaged internet cables are expected to remain offline for some time. Seacom anticipates that the Yemeni government will approve permits for the company’s repair plans within the next couple of weeks, with repairs to all three cables potentially commencing later in April.
Additional security measures are being implemented for the repair operation, but the work itself is expected to be relatively straightforward, as the cables are located in relatively shallow waters compared to other cases where cables are more than a mile deep. Once the cables are retrieved from the water by the repair crew, it should be possible to determine whether the damage was caused by the anchor or was a result of deliberate sabotage.
Potential Challenges Posed by the Rubymar
The location of the cable damage is believed to be approximately one to two miles away from where the Rubymar sank. While this distance is not expected to affect the repair operation, Padayachee notes that the situation could change by the time the repair crew arrives on site. The vessel may have shifted, or it may have broken apart, with debris scattered around the area. The US Central Command has also warned that the Rubymar poses a “subsurface impact risk to other ships.”
The Ongoing Threat of Houthi Missile Launches
The Houthi’s missile launches show no signs of abating, with other ships being damaged and lives being lost. These factors will undoubtedly impact the repair efforts. The risk of another vessel being struck by a missile and inadvertently cutting another submarine cable, as in the case of the Rubymar, cannot be ruled out.
It’s not something you usually see: trying to have a cable ship into those waters, recover the cable, make a repair, and then be able to return to port. It’s a long process. It’s risky.
Correction 4/1/2024, 9:49 am: A previous version of this article incorrectly stated the length of the Rubymar, which is 171 meters, not 17 meters.
6 Comments
Ezekiel T. Gray: In an age of science and technology, it’s a ghost ship that leaves us grasping for a signal—irony at its finest.
Can you believe a ghost ship’s wreckage could plunge so many into a digital blackout? Talk about an eerie sea tale turned modern crisis!
Guess the ghost ship decided the internet was its next treasure to bury—modern pirates, am I right?
Well, the high seas just found a way to haunt our Wi-Fi, didn’t they? Talk about a ghost story for the digital age!
Looks like we’ve taken “ghosting” to a whole new level, huh? A ship causing internet outages is straight-up spooky.
Isn’t it fascinating how something as haunted-sounding as a ghost ship has the power to disrupt our internet—truly a blend of old-world mystery and contemporary chaos!