The UK Press Association is reporting that Egyptian authorities no longer believe that a ship at anchor is responsible for the recent fiber cuts affecting much of the Middle East.
No ships were present when two marine cables carrying much of the Middle East’s internet traffic were severed, Egypt’s Ministry of Communications has said, contrary to earlier speculation about the causes of the cut.
The ministry had originally stated that a ship dropping its anchor on the two key cables was most likely responsible for Wednesday’s cut in service that robbed Egypt, Saudi Arabia and India of most of their internet connections.
“A marine transport committee investigated the traffic of ships in the area, 12 hours before and after the malfunction, where the cables are located to figure out the possibility of being cut by a passing vessel and found out there were no passing ships at that time,” said the statement.
There are also unconfirmed reports of minor problems with a fourth cable.