Venezuela to restore broken submarine internet cable with specialized repair ship

Two magnitude‑7.5 earthquakes struck Venezuela on 24 June 2026, snapping a submarine fiber‑optic cable about 1,800 m off the coast of La Guaira. The damage cut roughly half of the country's international internet capacity, prompting emergency measures by the national regulator, CONATEL.

CONATEL announced that a specialized vessel, the Wave Sentinel, operated by Cirion Technologies, would enter Venezuelan waters between 16 and 17 July 2026. The ship, equipped with remotely‑operated underwater robots, spare cable, precision splicing tools and a high‑precision laser, will locate the break, raise the cable ends to deck, clean and fuse the glass fibers, protect the joint and redeploy the cable to the seabed, restoring power to the repeaters.

The repair follows a fast‑track regulatory process that reduced the usual 45‑day approval period to two weeks, allowing the vessel, which stopped in Curaçao to take on crew and equipment, to set sail in 14 days. Alternative routing has already restored more than 60 % of service; the upcoming repair is expected to bring the international link back to 100 % within a few days. María Claudia Rey Castillo, president of Cirion’s Cluster Norte, said “Valoramos profundamente el acompañamiento de CONATEL… lo que logramos juntos en 14 días normalmente tomaría meses.”