Venezuela restores full internet connectivity after submarine cable repair
A double earthquake of magnitude 7.5 struck Venezuela on 24 June 2026, breaking the main submarine fiber‑optic cable about 1,800 m offshore near La Guaira. The outage disrupted international internet traffic for hospitals, banks and households.
Cirion Technologies led the restoration, deploying the specialized vessel Wave Sentinel and a remotely‑operated vehicle. About 200 technicians from several countries located the two separated cable ends, repaired the break and fused the sections over six days on the sea floor. The operation, completed 29 days after the quake, restored the cable to 100 % capacity with a reported availability of 99.9 %. The total cost was roughly US$4 million.
The National Telecommunications Commission (Conatel) confirmed that Venezuela’s international internet capacity is fully back online. The rapid response was aided by prior membership in the ACMA cable‑maintenance cooperative, which secured priority access to the Wave Sentinel and sped up customs and governmental authorizations.
Entities: Cirion Technologies · Comisión Nacional de Telecomunicaciones (Conatel) · Conatel · Maria Claudia Rey · Venezuela · Wave Sentinel
Claims
What the coverage asserts, and how well corroborated each claim is across sources.
- [○ 1 SOURCE] Conatel confirmed that Venezuela’s international internet capacity is fully restored. (800f2ede-784a-4ee3-a0f3-faf89ade32fc)
- [○ 1 SOURCE] A double earthquake of magnitude 7.5 struck Venezuela on 24 June 2026. (e738aff2-831e-4fec-a15d-f68fd939570a)
- [● 3 SOURCES] Cirion Technologies repaired the cable, restoring 100 % connectivity, 29 days after the quake. (385292ea-bbc6-4189-8d96-a04bc1e27337)
- [○ 1 SOURCE] The repair operation cost approximately US$4 million. (e738aff2-831e-4fec-a15d-f68fd939570a)
- [○ 1 SOURCE] The Wave Sentinel vessel and a remotely‑operated vehicle were used, involving about 200 technicians. (e738aff2-831e-4fec-a15d-f68fd939570a)
- [○ 1 SOURCE] The cable had operated with 99.9 % availability for 20 years before the outage. (e738aff2-831e-4fec-a15d-f68fd939570a)
- [● 2 SOURCES] The submarine cable near La Guaira was broken about 1,800 meters from the coast. (800f2ede-784a-4ee3-a0f3-faf89ade32fc)
- [○ 1 SOURCE] Fifteen governmental authorizations were obtained in 14 days to enable the repair. (385292ea-bbc6-4189-8d96-a04bc1e27337)