An undersea fiber optic cable is damaged again in Canada

Underwater fiber-optic cable Bell, which connected the Canadian island of Cape Breton in Nova Scotia and the west coast of Newfoundland, was damaged for the second time. This was reported by Canadian television channel CBC on February 20.

"We found that there is a cut on the cable that can be made with an angle grinder," said Bell's director of networks David Joyce.

He added that the cable is sheathed in steel, so it takes quite a bit of effort to do that kind of damage.

The publication also noted that this 140-kilometer cable is a major network route into Canada's eastern province of Newfoundland and Labrador.

According to Joyce, Bell is working to prevent such interference. The company is considering burying the line in the seabed and the possibility of using satellite imagery to monitor the area.

The last time the cable was similarly damaged in December 2023, the cause of the failure was not determined.

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Previously, on January 26, an undersea fiber optic cable between Latvia and Sweden in the Baltic Sea was damaged. It was noted that the company's monitoring systems recorded interruptions in data transmission on the section between Latvian Ventspils and Swedish Gotland.

Latvian Prime Minister Evika Silinja said that the submarine cable was probably damaged by an external impact. She said the authorities are involving other Baltic Sea countries to solve the problem, as the damage was discovered in Sweden's economic zone.