Undersea Cable Map: Submarine Cables, Cuts and Repairs

Undersea cable cuts and damage since December 2024

Philippines-Singapore cable segment: A segment failed and internet service in the Philippines slowed; service came back within days. The cause is not yet known.2 Oct 2026 · RapplerFAULT
Indigo West and Indigo Central cables off Perth, Australia: SUBCO reported faults on both cables on 8 and 9 August. The Australian Federal Police is assessing a report; the cause is not known.8 Aug 2026 · iTnewsFAULT
Taiwan-Matsu No. 3 cable off Dongyin: Taiwan detained 11 crew of the Chinese-flagged barge Hai Hong Gong 66, suspected of partly breaking the cable. Later in April the Dongyin-Beigan cable was cut; Reuters reported that an old shipwreck had shifted in bad weather.1 Apr 2026 · Focus TaiwanCREW HELD
Sventoji-Liepaja cable, Lithuania-Latvia: Latvian police inspected a ship but said on 5 January 2026 that they had no evidence linking it to the damage. Users in Latvia were not affected.2 Jan 2026 · LRTINVESTIGATED
Elisa Helsinki-Tallinn cable and an Arelion cable, Gulf of Finland: Finland seized the cargo ship Fitburg, suspected of dragging its anchor; Elisa rerouted traffic, so users were not affected. Prosecutors charged the Russian captain and the Azerbaijani boatswain. The trial opened on 8 September 2026, and both men deny the charges.31 Dec 2025 · YleON TRIAL
SMW4, IMEWE and FALCON GCX cables, Red Sea: Three cables were cut; NetBlocks placed the cuts near Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Internet traffic between Asia, the Middle East and Europe slowed, and Microsoft reported higher latency on Azure routes through the Middle East. Industry sources suspect a ship's anchor; there is no official finding.6 Sep 2025 · EuronewsCUT
Taiwan-Penghu cable: The Togo-flagged Hong Tai 58 was involved. On 12 June 2025 a court in Tainan sentenced its Chinese captain to three years in prison, Taiwan's first conviction for cable damage.25 Feb 2025 · CNA via GlobalSecurityCONVICTION
C-Lion1 cable east of Gotland: Sweden opened an investigation into new damage. The operator Cinia said the damage was minor and traffic was not affected.21 Feb 2025 · The Local SwedenINVESTIGATED
Latvia-Gotland fibre cable, Baltic Sea: Sweden seized the bulk carrier Vezhen. On 14 October 2025 prosecutors closed the case as an accident, caused by bad weather, defective anchor equipment and poor seamanship.26 Jan 2025 · The Local SwedenACCIDENT
TPE cable off Keelung, Taiwan: Taiwan suspects the cargo ship Shunxin-39, which used Cameroon and Tanzania registrations and has a Hong Kong owner, of damaging the cable. Rough seas stopped a boarding.3 Jan 2025 · Taipei TimesSUSPECTED
Estlink 2 power cable and telecom cables, Gulf of Finland: Finland seized the tanker Eagle S, suspected of dragging its anchor over the cables. Prosecutors charged three officers in August 2025. The Helsinki District Court dismissed the case for lack of jurisdiction on 3 October 2025, and the Court of Appeal reversed that ruling on 27 August 2026.25 Dec 2024 · YleSHIP SEIZED

Undersea cable news: latest reports

Key context

Baltic Sea: anchors, seized ships and court cases

The Baltic has had the most investigated incidents. In each case a ship dragged its anchor across the sea floor and over one or more cables; the open question is whether that was deliberate. Finland's case over the tanker Eagle S (Estlink 2, December 2024) was dismissed in October 2025 for lack of jurisdiction and reopened on appeal in August 2026. Sweden closed the Vezhen case as an accident. The Fitburg trial over the Helsinki-Tallinn cable began in September 2026.

NATO launched its Baltic Sentry mission on 14 January 2025 after these incidents, with ships, patrol aircraft and naval drones (Al Jazeera). Users were rarely cut off, because traffic moved to parallel cables.

Red Sea and Persian Gulf

Many cables between Europe, the Middle East and Asia run through the Red Sea and Egypt. Two sets of cuts hit them: three cables in early 2024, after the Houthi-hit cargo ship Rubymar drifted with its anchor down, and SMW4, IMEWE and FALCON GCX in September 2025. War-risk areas make repairs slow, because cable ships need permits and safe access.

In the Gulf, the 2026 Iran war left only one of the region's five repair ships inside the Gulf by May 2026 (CNN), and in October 2026 Iran International reported that an IRGC official threatened the cables that cross the Strait of Hormuz. We found no confirmed cable cut in the Gulf during the war.

Taiwan and the Matsu islands

Taiwan's outlying islands depend on a few domestic cables. In February 2025 the Hong Tai 58 damaged the Taiwan-Penghu cable, and in June 2025 a Taiwan court sentenced its Chinese captain to three years in prison. In 2026 the Matsu islands lost cables twice; Taiwan detained the crew of a Chinese-flagged barge in April. When a Matsu cable breaks, Taiwan switches the islands to microwave links until it is repaired.

About this map

The routes are the undersea telecom cables mapped in OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL), extracted 29 Oct 2026. Volunteers map cables from public sources, so the map shows only part of the 694 systems TeleGeography lists, and positions are approximate. For every cable by name, owner and landing station, use TeleGeography's Submarine Cable Map; we do not copy its data, because its route database is not licensed for reuse.

Incident points mark the reported area of each cut, not the exact fault position. Each one links to its source.

Questions and answers

Is there a map of all undersea cables?

The most complete one is TeleGeography's Submarine Cable Map (submarinecablemap.com), which lists 694 cable systems and 1,893 landing stations in its 2026 edition. Its route data is not open for reuse, so the map on this page draws the routes mapped by OpenStreetMap volunteers instead, which cover fewer cables, and adds every cut since 2025 with its source.

How many undersea cables are there?

TeleGeography's 2026 map shows 694 cable systems, including planned ones, and 1,893 landing stations. TeleGeography says cables carry over 99% of intercontinental data, while noting that the figure cannot be exact.

How often are undersea cables cut?

About 150 to 200 faults a year worldwide, according to the International Cable Protection Committee. 70 to 80% come from accidental human activity, mainly fishing gear and ship anchors; anchors alone cause about 30%. Most cuts go unnoticed by users because traffic moves to other cables.

Were the Baltic Sea cables sabotaged?

Investigations reached different results. Sweden closed the Vezhen case in October 2025 as an accident. In the Eagle S case (Estlink 2, December 2024), Finland charged three officers; a court dismissed the case for lack of jurisdiction, and the Court of Appeal reversed that in August 2026. In the Fitburg case (31 December 2025) two crew members went on trial in Helsinki in September 2026 and deny the charges (Yle).

Which cables were cut in the Red Sea?

On 6 September 2025 the SMW4, IMEWE and FALCON GCX cables were cut; NetBlocks placed the cuts near Jeddah. Internet traffic between Asia, the Middle East and Europe slowed, and Microsoft reported higher latency on Azure. In early 2024 three other Red Sea cables (AAE-1, Seacom and EIG) were cut, and the anchor of the sinking cargo ship Rubymar was widely blamed.

What happens to the internet when an undersea cable is cut?

Usually little: traffic moves to other cables within seconds, and users may see slower connections on some routes. Countries with only one or two cables, such as some islands, can lose most of their international connection until a repair ship fixes the cable, which can take days to weeks. See the internet outage map for current outages.

Who repairs undersea cables?

Specialised cable ships, mostly run by private companies under regional maintenance agreements. About 65 cable ships exist worldwide and about 20 of them mainly do repairs (testimony to the US-China Economic and Security Review Commission, April 2026). Repairs in conflict zones such as the Red Sea or the Persian Gulf take longer, because ships need permits and safe access.

Related live pages

Sources

OpenStreetMap contributors: submarine telecom cable routes as mapped in OpenStreetMap (extract of 29 Oct 2026). © OpenStreetMap contributors, Open Database License (ODbL 1.0). OpenStreetMap does not map every ocean cable.
Dated incident reports (news and official statements): each incident on the map and in the list links to the report it comes from. Areas are approximate and come from public reports, not from ship tracking.
International Cable Protection Committee (ICPC): how often cables fail and why. Cited, not republished.
The GDELT Project (DOC 2.0 API): media reports, matched by keyword. Headlines link to the publisher; MonitorWorld does not verify them.
MonitorWorld news digest: headlines from public news feeds (Reuters, AP, BBC, Al Jazeera and others), severity rated by our model. Each headline links to the publisher.

Page built 15:15 UTC, 2026-10-29. Full list: data sources and method.

Undersea Cable Map: Submarine Cable Routes and Cuts

Submarine cable map: routes and cuts