Repair ship sets sail to fix Wacs, Sat-3 cable breaks

Cable repair ship, the Leon Thevenin, set sail from Cape Town on Wednesday night and is expected to reach offshore Angola in the coming days where it will begin the first stage of work to repair undersea cables slowing Internet connections in South Africa.

The ship left Cape Town later than expected after it was delayed by gale-force winds.

“Following delays caused by weather conditions last weekend, loading of the vessel with all gear and material required for the undersea cable repairs was completed by 5.40pm yesterday,” Telkom’s wholesale division Openserve said in a statement.

“The Leon Thevenin then set sail from South African shores with the chief of mission, Didier Mainguy, and 53 other crew members on board.”

The cable ship will repair two separate cable breaks, one on the Wacs cable system and the other on the Sat-3/Wasc system. Both cables connect South Africa to Europe via the west coast of Africa.

“Weather conditions permitting, it is anticipated that the vessel will reach its first repair site on the evening of 28 January 2020,” Openserve said.

Slow Internet

The cable breaks have resulted in South African Internet users, whose ISPs are connected to international connectivity on both or either of these cable systems, experiencing reduced speed on international browsing and in some cases increased latency.

There is also impact on international voice calling and mobile roaming.  — (c) 2020 NewsCentral Media