Several tanker ships linked to Iran have been loitering over subsea Internet cables in the Gulf of Oman near the Strait of Hormuz, a possible indication that the Iranian government is preparing to attack such undersea infrastructure. Maritime intelligence firm Windward tracked three sanctioned tankers and an Iranian fishing boat near major undersea cables in October. Six active cables currently cross through the contested Strait of Hormuz, linking the Middle East to Europe, Africa and Asia.
Four countries, including Iraq, Kuwait, Bahrain and Qatar, depend entirely upon such subsea telecommunications connections running through the Strait of Hormuz chokepoint to link with the outside world. One third of India's westbound Internet traffic goes through the Persian Gulf and Strait of Hormuz. One cable under construction, the 2Africa cable, is owned by a tech consortium that includes the US company Meta.
That was one of the major cable corridors visited by the drifting Iran-linked ships. Windward used ship-tracking data and satellite images to track the vessels as they slowed down and looped around near multiple cables, with some ships then "going dark" by switching off their automatic identification system transponders. Such movement and behavioral patterns suggest the Iran-linked ships may be mapping the cable routes, or placing charges or mines on them while dark.
Windward highlighted two sanctioned tankers linked to Iran that spent days drifting directly over regional cable corridors with no commercial reason to stop. Both ships carried no commercial cargo.
Source: Ars Technica · Summarized by HeadlinesBriefing