Microsoft was forced to reroute Azure traffic on Saturday, Sept. 6 after two major submarine cable systems in the Red Sea were cut, disrupting Internet connections between Asia and Europe. The damage caused latency spikes and degraded performance for users in South Asia and the Gulf. Azure’s status page confirmed the disruption shortly before 6:00 UTC, saying that traffic dependent on Middle Eastern routes “may experience service disruptions.”
Microsoft successfully restored Azure services by Sept. 7. The disruption has largely been resolved for cloud services, but some regional effects persist. Reports from the past two days indicate that internet users in the United Arab Emirates continue to experience slower speeds and patchy connections, as reported by Gulf News.
To resolve the disruptions, Microsoft redirected data through longer alternative routes. The cables affected were SEA-ME-WE-4 and IMEWE, identified by NetBlocks, a group that monitors internet resilience. Both link Asia with Europe through the Red Sea corridor near Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, an area long recognized as a fragile bottleneck, Tom’s Hardware reports.
The disruption caused internet slowdowns in Pakistan, India, and parts of the Gulf. Such cables are critical not only for consumer access but also for large-scale cloud operations from companies including Microsoft, Google, and Meta.
Repairs for this type of thing can take weeks, as precise cable positioning and splicing must be carried out at deep water levels. A similar disruption in February 2024 affected multiple cables in the same corridor, with partial repairs stretching into July of that year.