Baltic Undersea Data Cable 'Disruption' May Take Two Weeks To Repair
Update (1352ET):
Finnish networking company Cinia sheds more color on the mysterious "fault" detected in the Cinia C-Lion1 submarine cable between Finland and Germany:
A fault has been detected in the Cinia Oy C-Lion1 submarine cable between Finland and Germany and corrective measures have been initiated.
A fault has been detected in the Cinia Oy C-Lion1 submarine cable between Finland and Germany early after 4 a.m. on Monday 18th November, 2024. Due to the fault, the services provided over the C-Lion1 are down.
The details of the fault are yet not known and are currently being investigated. Corrective measures have been initiated and the repair vessel is getting ready to go on the site. The exact repair time is not yet known, but typically the repair time for submarine cables is between 5 and 15 days.
Finland's international telecommunication connections are routed via multiple routes and the impact of a single cable failure depends on the resilience of the service providers' connections.
Some X users have pointed to a crude tanker as a potential suspect in the undersea cable disruption.
Here you are. Service doesn't seem to offer deeplinks. pic.twitter.com/tINaEmn7xu
— Arwed (@arwed_zen) November 18, 2024
Not to worry ⬇️. But as to the C-Lion-1...someone must have dragged their anchor across it, like last time, with the Finland-Estonia cable. pic.twitter.com/Gj5buXzxCT
— Maria🇫🇮🇺🇦 (@MariaSlavaUA) November 18, 2024
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Finnish networking company Cinia reports that its submarine communications cable, "C-Lion1," which connects Finland and Germany and provides a direct, high-capacity data link between Northern and Central Europe, has encountered a "fault."
"A fault has been detected in the Cinia C-Lion1 submarine cable between Finland and Germany on 18 November, 2024. Due to the fault, the services provided over the C-Lion1 cable are down. The cause of the fault is being investigated. More information of the situation will be updated on Tuesday 19 November, 2024," Cinia wrote in a statement on its website.
C-Lion1 is an undersea fiber cable between Rostock, Germany, and Helsinki, Finland, connecting businesses in central Europe with data centers in northern Europe. It was constructed in early 2016 and has a total capacity of 144 terabits per second, facilitating low latency and secure data transmission.
Cinia did not provide further details about the cause of the fault on C-Lion1 or if there were any disruptions in data communications.
One X user speculated, "Potential cause of C-lion1 cable break The crude oil tanker Magic Lady on its way from St. Petersburg to Dakar, which behaved strangely 2024-11-18 10:23:17 UTC in the Baltic Sea."
Potentiaalinen syypää C-lion1 kaapelin katkeamiseen Pietarista Dakariin matkalla ollut raakaöljytankkeri Magic Lady, joka käyttäytyi oudosti 2024-11-18 10:23:17 UTC Itämerellä.#clion1 #magiclady https://t.co/kFwJt9bh0O pic.twitter.com/OQoWraNBXz
— Aarne Leinonen LIB kuntavaaliehdokas HKI (@AarneLeinonen) November 18, 2024
A little more than two years ago, in a similar area of the Baltic Sea, Russia's Nord Stream undersea pipeline feeding Germany NatGas exploded. Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has stated that the US ordered the attack on the vital pipeline.
*Developing...