An incident occurred in Canada involving the damage to a submarine fiber optic cable owned by the telecommunications company Bell, which connects the mainland and island parts of the country. This was reported by the Canadian CBC channel, citing the company’s network director.
As CBC reminds, a similar case occurred in 2023, although the cause of the damage could not be determined at that time.
Bell is exploring monitoring options in the Gulf of St. Lawrence after one of its submarine cables, connecting Cape Breton Island with the western coast of Newfoundland, was damaged for the second time, the report states.
Bell’s network director, David Joyce, pointed out that signs of the damage suggest the cable may have been cut with an angle grinder. He added that cutting the cable, which is wrapped in steel, would require significant effort. Joyce speculates that the damage might have occurred on December 24, 2024, when the cable was snagged by an anchor or fishing gear from a vessel, then pulled to the surface and intentionally cut.
After the cable was repaired, the company is considering options to prevent similar damage in the future, including burying the cable in the seabed and using satellite monitoring to track the area’s condition.
