38 votes

Undersea telecom cable between Lithuania and Sweden damaged

7 comments

  1. [7]
    tauon
    (edited )
    Link
    This comes the same day as reports about the undersea cable between Finland and Germany having been severed (original article in Finnish, English here) just a couple of hours later, apparently...

    This comes the same day as reports about the undersea cable between Finland and Germany having been severed (original article in Finnish, English here) just a couple of hours prior later, apparently fully as communication links are down.

    And just a week ago, we had "Russia Issues Ominous Warning About Undersea Internet Cables".

    There is also this, ahem, incident from a few days ago: Russian spy ship escorted away from area with critical cables in Irish Sea.

    Call me conspiratoric, but I’m starting to see a pattern. Also, these occurrences (I’m not calling them attacks just yet) come suspiciously timed after a certain figure with the intention of withdrawing Ukraine support was elected the next US president.

    EDIT about a day later: It might have been Chinese actors – or at least that’s the flag a suspicious ship was flying under. Post with more info.

    24 votes
    1. [5]
      KapteinB
      Link Parent
      I think it's more likely a reaction to the current administration allowing the use of US weapons within Russia. But that again was probably a reaction to a certain figure being elected, so in a...

      Also, these occurrences (I’m not calling them attacks just yet) come suspiciously timed after a certain figure with the intention of withdrawing Ukraine support was elected the next US president.

      I think it's more likely a reaction to the current administration allowing the use of US weapons within Russia. But that again was probably a reaction to a certain figure being elected, so in a roundabout way, yes.


      Anyone here know how hard these cables are to repair? As the article mentions, this cable has been damaged several times before, so apparently it's easier and/or cheaper to repair a cable than to lay a new one.

      12 votes
      1. dustylungs
        Link Parent
        I was curious about that too and had to look it up. Turns out it’s conceptually as simple as fixing an electric wire you’ve accidentally drilled through behind a wall: get access to the...

        I was curious about that too and had to look it up. Turns out it’s conceptually as simple as fixing an electric wire you’ve accidentally drilled through behind a wall: get access to the wire/cable, splice it, test it, and put everything back where it was. In the case of a deep sea cable, a boat positions itself above the break, pulls the cable up with a grapnel, splices it, tests it, and lowers it back into the sea.

        14 votes
      2. tauon
        Link Parent
        Yes, I believe you are right and both sentiments are accurate; I forgot to mention this in my comment. Link to the discussion for those who missed it.

        I think it's more likely a reaction to the current administration allowing the use of US weapons within Russia.

        Yes, I believe you are right and both sentiments are accurate; I forgot to mention this in my comment. Link to the discussion for those who missed it.

        6 votes
      3. [2]
        Englerdy
        Link Parent
        Wow! I've been here long enough to circle back on a prior conversation! There was this awesome story that was shared here in May about the whole industry that keeps the international Internet...

        Wow! I've been here long enough to circle back on a prior conversation! There was this awesome story that was shared here in May about the whole industry that keeps the international Internet running. Terrifyingly these cables are broken A LOT and there's teams of pretty obscure heros that chart around the world repairing them. Really interesting to learn about and gives you a much deeper appreciation for just how delicate our global communication systems are: The invisible seafaring industry that keeps the internet going

        6 votes
        1. overbyte
          Link Parent
          Working in an adjacent space to this (company funds and helps run a few submarine cables and their landing points), it's fulfilling to be in that side of tech where you can see the tangible impact...

          Working in an adjacent space to this (company funds and helps run a few submarine cables and their landing points), it's fulfilling to be in that side of tech where you can see the tangible impact your miniscule contributions are impacting when it sometimes feels like you're just staring at code and logs all day. It helps put things in perspective.

          Also the pressure that if our networking guys mess up a change it could cut off internet traffic to entire countries, I think I'll prefer messing up a production database for a single app as my greatest "achievement".

          5 votes