Undersea fibre optic cable system operator Seacom on Monday stated that the company's service was down, and it was actively seeking options to restore the service.

The problem has been identified, and the repair process was said to take only a few hours, however the overall process could last a minimum of between six days and eight days.

External factors such as transit time of the ship, weather conditions and time taken to locate the cable, made it difficult to estimate the duration of the repair, Seacom explained.

Seacom, in cooperation with individual clients, said it was actively seeking alternatives to restore service while the repairs were undertaken.

Seacom explained that on the morning of July 5,a submarine failure was experienced, resulting in service downtime between Mumbai, in India and Mombasa, in Kenya.

Investigations showed that a repeater failed on segment nine of the Seacom cable, which is offshore to the north of Mombasa. Seacom initiated emergency repair procedures to replace the repeater.

"Once mobilised, the repair ship is deployed to the location of the fault to pick up the cable. The cable is then brought on board to undergo the repair - the faulty element is replaced with a new repeater - before being put back in the water," said Seacom.

The failure affects traffic towards both India and Europe, however traffic within Africa was not affected, explained Seacom.

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