[Infowarrior] - Navies to guard undersea cable from Somali pirates

[Richard Forno]

Navies to guard undersea cable from Somali pirates
Thu Apr 16, 2009 5:30am EDT

http://www.reuters.com/article/africaCrisis/idUSLG73912

NAIROBI, April 16 (Reuters) - Foreign navies have agreed to protect a  
vessel installing an undersea high-speed Internet cable from pirates  
off the coast of Somalia, a Kenyan minister said on Thursday.

Sea gangs from lawless Somalia have been increasingly striking the  
Indian Ocean shipping lanes and strategic Gulf of Aden, capturing  
dozens of vessels and hundreds of hostages in attacks that have driven  
up insurance rates.

Patrols by Western navies have done little to deter the attacks.

Kenyan Information and Communications Minister Samuel Poghisio said  
the 5,000 km (3,107 miles) fibre optic cable was on course for  
completion in June.

Last month, a government official said the route for the East African  
Marine Cable (TEAMS) had been shifted an extra 200 km from the  
coastline for fear of pirates.

"These are concerns we have but they are being addressed. We know it  
will be secure and will land in Mombasa on time," Poghisio said in a  
statement on Thursday.

"The process (of laying the cable) has begun and will probably take  
two months. It is likely that by the middle of June the ship should be  
anchoring in Mombasa, or rather delivering the cable to Mombasa," he  
added.

The $130 million cable will link Kenya's coastal town of Mombasa with  
Fujairah in the United Arab Emirates.

Kenya has been putting down a terrestrial cable connecting different  
parts of the country to prepare for the arrival of the marine cable,  
which could be east Africa's first speedy but cheap telecoms link with  
the rest of the world.

Another undersea project known as SEACOM is also expected to be  
operational in the second half of 2009 and two others are due to land  
in 2010 -- the Eastern African Submarine Cable System (EASSy) and the  
France Telecom/Orange Sat3-wasc-Safe cable.

East Africa has relied on expensive satellite connections for  
telephones and Internet. Telecoms operators and outsourcing firms are  
eagerly awaiting the cable's arrival, which is expected to slash costs  
and speed up connectivity. (Reporting by Helen Nyambura-Mwaura;  
Editing by Jack Kimball)