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SEA-ME-WE 5

HIGH
London ↔ Singapore
⚠ Active Risk Zone

RED SEA + HORMUZ — Houthi attacks since Q4 2023 have extended repair windows to 6-8 weeks via Cape of Good Hope rerouting. Iran conflict introduces Strait of Hormuz risk: no alternative routing exists if Gulf of Oman cables are severed.

SEA-ME-WE 5 (South East Asia-Middle East-Western Europe 5) is a 20,000km submarine cable system connecting the UK to Singapore via France, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, India and Malaysia. A consortium cable with major shareholders including SingTel (AS7473), Tata Communications (AS6453), and Etisalat (AS5384), SEA-ME-WE 5 is one of the primary carriers of financial data between London and Asian equity markets. The cable traverses both the Red Sea corridor (elevated risk from Houthi activity since late 2023) and the Gulf of Oman approach to the Strait of Hormuz (elevated risk from Iran conflict escalation). CableAlert monitors SEA-ME-WE 5 via multi-ASN BGP telemetry and RIPE Atlas latency probes on the London-Singapore corridor.

RFS Year
2016
Length
20,000 km
Benchmark
160ms
Alert At
>200ms

Consortium Members & Monitored ASNs

OperatorASNCountryMonitoring
SingTelAS7473SG● BGP telemetry
Tata CommunicationsAS6453IN● BGP telemetry
Etisalat (e&)AS5384AE● BGP telemetry
Telecom Italia SparkleAS6762IT● BGP telemetry

Landing Stations

Southampton, UKMarseille, FranceSuez, EgyptMumbai, IndiaSingapore

Monitoring Notes

Traverses both Red Sea corridor (Houthi risk) and Gulf of Oman approach (Iran/Hormuz risk). Dual geopolitical exposure.

Other Cables on London ↔ Singapore

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