The Léon Thévenin, a cable repair ship, has been kept busy lately. Soon after returning to dock in Cape Town after attending to broken subsea broadband cables near Ivory Coast, the ship’s crew has set sail again – this time to repair broken cables on Africa’s east coast.
Cable breaks affecting Seacom and Eassy, two cable systems that connect South Africa with Kenya – and onward to Europe and the Asian subcontinent – were severed somewhere north of Durban on Sunday.
This has caused connectivity issues across East Africa, including in Kenya, Tanzania, Rwanda and Madagascar.
According to the marine shipping website marinetraffic.com, the Léon Thévenin set sail from Cape Town harbour shortly before 4pm on Tuesday, presumably en route to the site of the cable damage, which, in the case of Eassy, is understood to have taken place under the sea about 45km north of Durban.
The Léon Thévenin, which is owned by Orange Marine, is expected to reach the site of the cable damage within about three days.
“The repair time will be dependent on weather, sea conditions and the extent of the damage,” Chris Wood, CEO of Wiocc Group, an investor in the Eassy cable, told TechCentral on Sunday.
Run of bad luck
Africa has had a run of rotten luck with subsea internet cables this year.
In February, a stricken vessel dragged its anchor through three cables in the Red Sea – including the Seacom system – impacting connectivity in the region. Those cables still haven’t been repaired due the geopolitical instability in the region.
Then, in March, a seismic event under the ocean off Ivory Coast severed four cables simultaneously, causing internet disruptions in West Africa and as far south as South Africa. Those cables have since been repaired, TechCentral reported. – © 2024 NewsCentral Media