Red Sea Cable Cuts Disrupt Microsoft Azure and Regional Internet Traffic

A series of undersea fiber-optic cable cuts in the Red Sea have disrupted internet connectivity across parts of Asia and the Middle East, with Microsoft confirming that its Azure cloud platform has been affected. 

The company said the disruption began at 05:45 UTC on September 6 and has forced data rerouting through alternate paths, resulting in higher-than-normal latencies.

Azure issued an advisory indicating that traffic passing through the Middle East and originating from or ending in the Asia or Europe regions might encounter increased latency. This is due to several undersea fiber cuts in the Red Sea, which have caused disruptions requiring rerouting via alternative paths that could result in higher-than-usual latencies.

The damage has impaired key data routes that carry traffic between Europe, the Middle East and Asia. As a result, users in countries such as India, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, and the United Arab Emirates have experienced slower connections and service interruptions. Meanwhile, local telecom operators have acknowledged widespread disruptions.

Microsoft said customers relying on Azure through the Middle East are facing increased latency, though services routed outside the corridor remain stable. To limit the fallout, the company has begun rerouting network traffic along alternative paths and is monitoring performance as engineering teams work on mitigation.

According to media reports, repairing the damage could take several weeks, as fixing subsea cables requires specialised vessels to locate, retrieve and splice damaged segments. The cause of the cuts remains unclear. 

The affected systems include some of the region’s most important cables, among them SEA-ME-WE-4, IMEWE and FALCON, which together form a backbone of international internet traffic. 

Authorities and industry experts have pointed to possibilities ranging from accidental damage caused by ships and anchors to intentional disruption amid continuing conflict in the region. While some reports have raised concerns about potential sabotage, no official attribution has been made.