Southern Cross submarine cable cut off

The Southern Cross submarine cable snapped 20km from Sydney on Sunday morning during a heavy storm, disrupting services for 12 to 15 hours.

The port of Sydney was closed at the time and the seas were described as un-navigable.

Normally the company can instantaneously restore service after a single break on its protected loop network, but at the time of the break Southern Cross was completing planned maintenance to another segment of the loop network which involved the re-laying and burial of a segment of cable near the coast of Oregon. Once that segment was recommissioned, service was restored. The repair to the cable break off the Sydney coast is expected to take 12 days.