Three international submarine cables in the Mediterranean Sea were damaged on 19 December, causing significant disruptions to internet and phone traffic in the Middle East, India and all of the Gulf states. The location of the fault was thought to have occurred between Tunisia and Italy. The three damaged cables are the Flag Europe-Asia cable, operated by global data network operator Reliance Globalcom, and two consortium cables, SeaMeWe-3 and SeaMeWe-4 owned jointly by several telecommunications companies. Additionally, there were reports that the GO-1 cable connecting Malta with Sicily had been damaged on the evening of 18 December. It was not immediately known if the outages were connected. As member of the SeaMeWe consortia, France Telecom immediately alerted one of the two maintenance boats based in the Mediterranean area, the Raymond Croze. It should be on location on Monday morning for a relief mission. Priority will be given to the recovery of the Sea Me We4 cable, then on the Sea Me We3. By 25 December, Sea Me We4 could be operating. By 31 December, the situation should be back to normal. The current series of faults is reminiscent of the submarine cable faults that occurred in January 2008.
