- A little Internet traffic passing through the Red Sea was struck following cable cutting
- Microsoft, Netblocks and Linode have all noted the disturbances
- The current voltages put the cables at higher risk
Several underwater fiber cables have been cut in the Red Sea, disturbing Internet connectivity in the region, confirmed Microsoft.
Confirmation of the incident occurs after Azure Cloud Computing customers began to notice the higher latency than usual on September 6, 2025, but Microsoft has already issued temporary fixes to avoid disturbances because it defines a longer term path to restore.
Traffic passing through the Middle East has been mainly affected, including links with Asia and Europe – all other traffic around the world has remained unassigned.
Microsoft confirms that its Red Sea cable has been cut
The part responsible for harming the cable used by MiRIOSOFT has not been confirmed, but other companies, including Netblocks and Linode, also reported latency problems. The Pakistan telecommunications authority has also warned of disturbances.
“We expect a higher latency on traffic which previously crossed the Middle East,” confirmed Microsoft, noting that it should now go through other regions.
“Underwater fiber cuts can take time to repair, as such, we will monitor, rebalance and constantly optimize routing to reduce the impact of customers while waiting,” added Microsoft.
Tata Communications and Alcatel Submarine Networks, the companies behind two of the cables in the region, have not yet published a comment on the breakdown.
The Minister of Information and Culture of Yemen, Moammar Al -Yani, described the incident “alarm clock for the international community”.
It has become more and more obvious that our underwater cable networks are not only important for world trade, but that they are also subject to attacks in the midst of in progress geopolitical tensions.
More broadly, the damage of previous cables in February 2024 disturbed traffic in Asia-Europe. Several cables and pipelines have also been damaged in the Baltic Sea since 2022 in attacks suspected of being linked to the invasion of Ukraine by Russia.
In the meantime, Microsoft’s traffic has been restored, although slower performance than usual via different routes.
