PNG DataCo Limited advises customers, partners and the public that repair and service-continuity works are progressing on the Vanimo KSCN and Madang PPC-1 submarine cable faults. International traffic to Asia and Europe also continues to be affected by submarine cable faults on the Perth-Singapore corridor.
- Madang PPC-1 Submarine Cable Break
The PPC-1 Madang-Sydney path remains unavailable following the fault reported at approximately 11:10 pm on 18 September 2026. The fault has been isolated to the Madang-Sydney transmit fibre, approximately 56 metres from the Madang Beach Manhole joint and extending into the submarine section. A marine repair is required. PNG DataCo and Vocus continue to progress the technical repair plan and vessel arrangements. In the interim, affected traffic remains rerouted through Port Moresby over KSCN and the Coral Sea Cable System to Sydney. The second 100G wavelength activated on the Port Moresby-Madang KSCN System 2 Express Link provides a total 200G of transmission capacity to support northern-region and rerouted PPC-1 traffic.
- Vanimo KSCN Submarine Cable Break
Marine repair operations are underway on the two confirmed fault locations serving Vanimo. The repair vessel reached the work area on 13 October 2026. Recovery and cut-and-test activities for the first fault section were completed on 15 October, and work has progressed to recovery of the second fault section on the Vanimo side. Cable testing, splicing and final deployment are scheduled to continue through 21 October, with contingency allowed to 23 October 2026. During these safety-critical works, Wewak Cable Landing Station has been powered down and services traversing Wewak and Vanimo are affected. Temporary satellite and microwave arrangements remain available where provisioned. The repair programme remains subject to vessel operations, sea and weather conditions, and the condition of the cable when recovered.
- Australia-Singapore Cable and Indigo West Faults
The Australia-Singapore Cable fault remains active and temporary restoration paths continue to carry traffic between Australia and Singapore, including via Jakarta and an additional 100G Japan-Guam path. The repair programme sequences Indigo West before ASC to establish additional diversity before ASC is powered down for permanent repair. The latest publicly confirmed targets remain around 24 October 2026 for Indigo West and 4 November 2026 for ASC. Customers accessing services and content hosted in Asia and Europe may continue to experience increased latency, degraded performance or intermittent accessibility. Repair dates remain subject to permits, vessel movements, sea and weather conditions.
PNG DataCo apologises for the inconvenience caused and thanks customers, partners and the public for their patience and understanding. Our engineering, operations and field teams continue to work with domestic and international partners to maintain service availability, strengthen network resilience and complete permanent repairs as safely and quickly as practicable.
If you have any questions or concerns regarding the outage, please don’t hesitate to contact our NOC team on +675 313 3936 or noc@pngdataco.com.
Authorized By
Paul Komboi, OBE, GCL
Chief Executive Officer
