Posted on 02/03/2008 7:26:10 PM PST by NCjim
Ships are not responsible for damaging undersea internet cables in the Mediterranean, Egypt's Government says.
Two cables were damaged earlier this week in the Mediterranean sea and another off the coast of Dubai, causing widespread disruption to internet and international telephone services in Egypt, Gulf Arab states and South Asia.
A fourth cable linking Qatar to the United Arab Emirates was damaged on Sunday causing yet more disruptions, telecommunication provider Qtel said.
Egypt's transport ministry said footage recorded by onshore video cameras of the location of the cables showed no maritime traffic in the area when the cables were damaged.
"The ministry's maritime transport committee reviewed footage covering the period of 12 hours before and 12 hours after the cables were cut and no ships sailed the area," a statement said.
"The area is also marked on maps as a no-go zone and it is therefore ruled out that the damage to the cables was caused by ships."
Earlier reports said that the damage had been caused by ships that had been diverted off their usual route because of bad weather.
A repair ship is expected to begin work to fix the two Mediterranean cables on Tuesday.
wow. imagine...it all gets down to who has the best pair of scissors.
This is a case for Scooby-Doo. Or Flipper.
Do we outsource to Iran?
The outages where on “FLAG” and “SEA-ME-WE 4” ... I work tel-com it’s been a bear getting alt bandwidth for reroute on this outage
The cut cables affected the whole middle east - including India.
I wonder if Al-Quada has a submarine now? I know that the US used submarines to tap into Soviet phone lines back in the ‘day.
ping
Doesn’t take a genius to arrive at the conclusion that this disruption of service was contrived.
Navy SEALS making a trial run so when war erupts in the Middle East, we will shut down communications.
The Middle East is getting close to a Berlin Wall 1989 moment. I give it about two more years.
What is the water depth at those locations?
Uh-huh - now what was it that Egypt’s government said about Egypt Air flight 990?
Well, my husband wonders if swordfish might be responsible.
Submarine.
After the first reported cable incident I thought Iranian Sub. Intentional.
Still do.
There are coincidences that cannot be accounted for by rational minds—but not in the areas of security.
What does that mean? What would a "Berlin Wall 1989 moment" in the Middle East resemble? Who would win? Who would fall? What leads you to this conclusion?
doesnt Iran have some old soviet diesels ?
mike nelson.
How deep was the water where the cables were cut?
Youre all wrong - its the russkies trying to get tension up again - they are the ones that benefit by this in terms of higher oil prices.
The answer, my friend, is blowin' in the wind,
The answer is blowin' in the wind...
Yes, hmmm indeed. Thanks for posting this update, NCJim.
I thought the ruskies and iran are alies.
Not even a hint of speculation offered here as to the ‘what/how’ of this. Leaving us to our own worst imaginations...
India is not part of the ME, of course, but south Asia also was affected.
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I think you’re right. Pracice run for taking out comm lines off US coasts? Disruption of military communications in the Middle East?
russkies sell to iran - russia makes no friends
The depth was relatively shallow, less than 200 ft or so, if a ship dragged an anchor over it as originally reported.
There's nothing quite like having your whole corporate life hanging on an internet connection. It's about as stupid as you can be. I never worried about outsourcing as I always expected this kind of event was waiting in the wings.
I’m voting for new Iranian sub!
and here I thought it was “swimmin’ in the sea”
I can’t believe it has gone this long before the Arabs blamed the JOOOOOOOS.
I can’t believe it has gone this long before the Arabs blamed the JOOOOOOOS.
Wonder if there may be some commercial hijinks going on here. Maybe an alternative cable company or comm source (satellite) may be the ones cutting cables.
I guarantee its Israel cutting the internet cables, they have every reason to do so. This damages economic concerns, limits communications, and sends a shot across the bow to various hostile mideast nations to get in line.
That's like saying, "I'm not worried about somebody throwing me over a cliff, because eventually they'll feel sorry they did it."
A Sawfish, of course.
“Mayer Amschel Bauer said,
February 1, 2008 at 4:17 pm
Third cable break today. I work with Submarine Cable Systems, and generally they are so reliable that you can go years without seeing a single break. Now three in the same area - in three days? Sabotage, beyond all doubt.”
(http://hedonisticpleasureseeker.wordpress.com/2008/02/01/i-have-a-real-bad-feeling-about-this/)
Navy SEALS making a trial run so when war erupts in the Middle East, we will shut down communications.
The Middle East is getting close to a Berlin Wall 1989 moment. I give it about two more years.
SEALS don’t do the deep stuff, it would have been deep sea divers. Two different outfits. But more likely it would have been robotic submersibles with no human involvement.
“Ships are not responsible for damaging undersea internet cables in the Mediterranean, Egypt’s Government says. “
No, of course not. The easiest, most direct explanation cannot be the reason, and definitely doesn’t fit into the paranoia that is endemically resident in the Arab mind.
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