Damaged subsea cable to be fixed later this month: Chunghwa Telecom

Taipei, Jan. 6 (CNA) A damaged undersea cable off northern Taiwan is expected to be repaired around the end of January at the earliest, depending on weather and sea conditions, Taipei-based Chunghwa Telecom Co. said Monday.

The damaged cable in waters off the coast of Yehliu in northern Taiwan is part of the Trans-Pacific Express Cable System, which connects the West Coast of the United States and Taiwan, Japan, South Korea and China, according to a Chunghwa Telecom statement.

Chunghwa Telecom, one of the six companies that own the cable system joint venture, said it requested a repair vessel to be sent to fix the cable that is thought to have been damaged by a cargo ship on Jan. 3.

Weather and sea conditions permitting, the cable is expected to be repaired by the end of January at the earliest, the company said.

In a service message posted Sunday, Chunghwa Telecom said clients of its Hinet broadband internet service should only experience mild latency in connecting to websites in the U.S. and Japan during peak hours, after emergency measures were taken to reroute internet traffic soon after the incident.

When asked if there has been an uptick in incidents of suspected sabotage in recent years, the company said it has not seen significant increases, but it declined to provide specific figures, citing business confidentiality.

Taiwan last reported undersea cable damage in early 2023 when two cables between Taiwan and the Matsu Islands were disconnected on Feb. 2 and Feb. 8 that year.

Internet connection in the offshore county was cut off for more than 50 days before one of the two cables was repaired on March 31.