Full repairs to three submarine internet cables that were damaged in the Red Sea in February are being delayed because of disagreements over who controls access to infrastructure in Yemeni waters.
Repairs to the Seacom and EIG cables have been approved by the official Yemeni government, but the consortium that runs AAE-1, which includes telecommunications company TeleYemen, was not granted a permit, according to documents seen by Bloomberg.
Three out of more than a dozen cables that run through the Red Sea were damaged in late February by the Houthi-sunk bulk carrier Rubymar (IMO 9138898) in late February (IMO March 5th and other dates). The three damaged cables carry about 25% of traffic in the region.
The dispute over the third cable derives from the split political control of TeleYemen, the country’s sole telecommunications provider. The company has two branches, one in Aden (under the control of the official Yemeni government), and the other in Sanaa (under the control of the Houthi militia group).
The Yemeni government refused to cooperate with the Houthi-linked part of TeleYemen associated with the AAE-1 cable consortium and sought to appoint a representative from the Aden branch, according to the documents. But the consortium did not approve the alternative representative and Yemen’s government declined to grant a permit, according to the documents.
E-Marine, a subsidiary of Abu Dhabi-based Emirates Telecommunications Group Co. PJSC, had been contracted to carry out the repairs. The Aden branch of TeleYemen wrote a letter to Yemen’s Telecommunications Ministry demanding that E-Marine provide a $12.5m bank guarantee to ensure it would not carry out any repairs on the AAE-1 cable when the company was fixing the other two cables until the dispute was resolved. The ministry initially approved the condition, according to the documents, but a senior government official told Bloomberg that Yemen’s cabinet decided it was not necessary,
It was unclear if the Houthis, which control much of Yemen’s Red Sea coastline will let E-Marine fix the two cables. It has previously said only it can grant permission for the repairs.
Seacom Ltd.’s Prenesh Padayachee said that the repair ships would take about a week to reach the cables and then about two days to fix each one. The cables will be lifted to the surface and fresh cable will be spliced in to replace the damaged sections.
The repair crew will also assess the 1997-built, Belize-flagged, 19,420 gt Rubymar, whose anchor most likely severed the cables in February when it was attacked. Seacom estimated that the ship was currently about 1km away from its cable, and seemed to be stable.
“But we don’t want to do a repair and then have this vessel falling into the new cables,” he said. “In all likelihood it will have to be moved”, Padayachee said.
1997-built, Belize-flagged, 19,420 gt Rubymar is listed as owned by Golden Adventure Shipping SA of Southampton, UK. It is managed by GMZ Ship Management Co SA of Beirut, Lebanon.