Microsoft Warns of Latency After Red Sea Cable Cut Disrupts ME & South Asia

Microsoft has issued a warning that a submarine cable interruption in the Red Sea could result in increased delay for Azure cloud users.

According to an Azure status update:

“Starting at 05:45 UTC on 06 September 2025, network traffic traversing through the Middle East may experience increased latency due to undersea fiber cuts in the Red Sea.”

Customers are advised to expect higher latency on some traffic that previously traversed through the Middle East by Microsoft, which has rerouted data over alternative network channels.

A warning about network congestion and latency due to multiple faults in the undersea cables that are part of the optimal routes out of the data centers” has also been issued by Linode.

The company warned:

“There is currently no estimated time-to-resolution available from the undersea cable operators.”

The SMW4 and IMEWE cable systems have been identified by internet-watching company NetBlocks as the cause of the issue, which it claims started close to the Saudi city of Jeddah.

Based on Telegeography’s stunning map of underwater cables, Jeddah is highlighted as the home to landing positions of both cables, emphasizing that the current problem is terrestrial in nature rather than the consequence of seafloor damage.

Over 99 percent of all international data traffic is carried by submarine cables, which serve as the internet’s backbone. These cables are exposed to a variety of hazards, such as ship anchors, fishing trawlers, natural calamities, and, more frequently, intentional sabotage.

They are frequently buried well below the ocean surface of Red Sea. Governments and telecom firms throughout the world are becoming increasingly concerned about safeguarding this vital infrastructure.