Red Sea cable cuts (2024)
In February 2024, the anchor of a cargo ship hit by a missile and abandoned severed three Red Sea submarine cables: a war risk passed on to digital infrastructure without it being targeted.
The Red Sea is one of the bottlenecks through which most cables linking Europe to Asia and East Africa pass. A conflict that strikes shipping there can cut those cables without targeting them: a disabled ship drifts, its anchor drags along the seabed and tears out everything in its path. Repair requires a cable ship, permits from the coastal states and a safe zone, so it takes months instead of days. For the insurer, the question is cause: accidental damage, act of war or act of a belligerent, the answer decides which exclusion applies, and the downstream customers' business interruption falls under contingent business interruption.
The cargo ship Rubymar, hit by a Houthi missile on February 18, 2024 and abandoned by its crew, drifted while dragging its anchor; around February 24, the AAE-1, Seacom and EIG cables were severed, and the ship sank on March 2, 2024. Repairs waited several months for permits and security conditions.
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