Cinia has reported that the C-Lion1 telecommunications cable between Finland and Germany has been broken by an external force, such as an anchor or grounding.
The cable is almost 1200 km long and runs near the Nord Stream gas pipeline. Experts are not yet sure what caused the break. At the same time, they do not rule out the possibility of a deliberate break.
Repairs have begun
Cinia is a state-owned company that builds fiber optic networks, and the C-Lion1 submarine cable is part of its network. According to Cinia, work to fix the fault has already begun, and a repair vessel has been sent to the site. The exact time of the repair is not yet known, but usually the repair of submarine cables takes 5 to 15 days.
According to Ari-Jussi Knaapila, CEO of Cinia, one repair vessel has been dispatched to repair the C-Lion1 submarine cable. It left the French port of Calais earlier on Monday. According to Mr. Knaapila, the cable was cut in a special economic zone in Sweden about halfway through the cable’s length.
Finland’s international telecommunications connections are provided by several routes, and the consequences of a single cable failure depend on the level of redundancy of service providers’ connections. The C-Lion1 cable was deployed in 2016.
How is the submarine cable being repaired?
The C-Lion1 submarine cable will be recovered from the seabed and extended. Repairs to the submarine cable require the cable to be raised from the seabed.
Cinia will provide information on the status of the submarine cable, including on its website. Other authorities will be responsible for providing information on the status of the submarine cable. The failure of the submarine cable should not cause significant disruptions to Finland’s telecommunications.
Is there any evidence of sabotage in the cutting of the submarine cable?
According to Henri Kronlund, Director of Communications at Cinia, there is currently no accurate information on whether the C-Lion1 submarine cable has been the victim of deliberate sabotage:
“However, a deliberate disconnection of the submarine cable cannot be ruled out at this time.”
