Not a single break, but this is not certain. Damage to internet backbones at the end of 2024

Deep-sea problem: where the threads of the internet broke

In the past few weeks, it has become known that three internet highways have failed. At first glance, there is nothing extraordinary about these incidents, but their proximity to each other in time has raised questions. First of all, who is to blame and what to do?

Damage and repair of the BCS East-West Interlink cable

On November 17, 2024, in the Baltic Sea, a break in the BCS East-West Interlink underwater communication cable, connecting the Lithuanian city of Šventoji with the Swedish island of Gotland, was recorded. The highway was put into operation in November 1997. It is one of the three main data transmission channels between Lithuania and Sweden. The cable provides a significant portion of the internet traffic in the region.

The break occurred around 10 am local time. The incident led to a reduction in internet bandwidth in Lithuania by about a third. The operating company stated that the cable had previously been repeatedly damaged by ship anchors.

The situation is complicated by the fact that the BCS East-West Interlink was damaged almost simultaneously with the C-Lion1 highway break (more on this below). Both damages were discovered within 10 square kilometers of each other, raising doubts about the randomness of the incident.

Repair work on the BCS East-West Interlink began immediately. Experts estimated the recovery time to be a couple of weeks, depending on weather conditions. The forecasts were accurate — by November 28, 2024, the cable was repaired.

The investigation into the causes continues, and the authorities of Lithuania and Sweden are trying to find out what happened and why.

Damage and restoration of the C-Lion1 cable

The next day, November 18, there was damage to the C-Lion1 submarine communication cable. The trunk line connects Helsinki with the German port city of Rostock. Its length is about 1.2 thousand kilometers. It provides high-speed data transmission between Finland and Germany.

The cable operator, the Finnish company Cinia, reported a malfunction and quickly began repair work. The specialized vessel Cable Vigilance departed from the French port of Calais and quickly arrived at the site of the damage. Coordinated work and favorable weather conditions allowed the repair to be completed on November 28, 2024, at 21:00 Eastern European Time.

Now the C-Lion1 cable is fully restored and functioning normally. As in the previous case, the causes of the damage remain unclear. Cinia has filed an official request with the Finnish National Bureau of Investigation, and the investigation of the incident continues.

Who damaged the cables? As CNN interlocutors note, the cause of the break may be the anchor of a ship passing nearby. US officials and Western intelligence officials have suggested that the culprit may be the Chinese ship Yi Peng 3. It passed near the damage sites shortly before the trunk lines broke.

These two cases are not uncommon. A similar incident occurred in the fall of 2023, when the Balticconnector underwater gas pipeline connecting Finland and Estonia was damaged. It turned out that the pipeline was hit by the anchor of the Chinese cargo ship Newnew Polar Bear. China then confirmed that the damage to the Balticconnector was caused by their ship by accident.

The investigation is still ongoing.

Cable break between Sweden and Finland

The information noise related to the first two incidents had not yet subsided when a new problem became known. On the night of December 3, 2024, the main line connecting Sweden and Finland was damaged. The incident occurred in Finland, as reported by the Swedish newspaper Aftonbladet, citing data from the Swedish Emergency Management Agency.

Finnish Minister of Transport and Communications Lulu Ranne stated that the authorities take the incident seriously and, together with the main line operator, are conducting a thorough investigation of the incident.

The damage caused internet connection disruptions in both countries. According to the Finnish Transport and Communications Agency Traficom, the damage occurred during construction work, and repair work was promptly completed.

Reliable protection needed

NATO is now strengthening measures to protect critical underwater infrastructure. From December 2024, the Alliance will begin monitoring critical facilities in the Baltic Sea based on a new maritime center established in Finland. The organization plans to use advanced technologies, including robots, and software to monitor the condition of underwater communications and respond promptly to potential threats.

Moreover, NATO plans to create a fleet of marine drones to patrol and protect underwater infrastructure in the Baltic and Mediterranean Seas. The devices will be equipped with modern sensors to detect and prevent potential threats.

By the way, the idea of protecting internet highways is not new. In May 2024, the first meeting dedicated to the protection of critically important underwater infrastructure was held at NATO headquarters. At the meeting, leading experts from Alliance member countries discussed strategies and measures to strengthen the security of deep-sea cables and pipelines. It was emphasized that different states and private businesses should participate in the project.

In addition to these initiatives, Germany and Norway proposed to divide NATO territory into five maritime zones for more effective protection of underwater infrastructure. As part of this plan, Germany expressed its readiness to take responsibility for the security of facilities in the Baltic Sea.

What is the result?

Incidents of damage to underwater communication cables in the Baltic Sea highlight the growing vulnerability of global infrastructure. There are more highways, and there are also many ships cruising over them. From time to time, accidents occur due to the carelessness of sailors or for other reasons.

Cable breaks cause internet connection disruptions and threaten the stability of critical communications, on which international financial transactions, energy, and national security depend. So the issue of protecting underwater internet infrastructure is not idle. Government organizations and private companies need to develop a truly reliable plan that will, if not completely solve the problem, at least remove some of the threats. We will continue to monitor the situation.