Hawaiki Nui 1

Overview

Hawaiki Nui 1 is a submarine cable system spanning approximately 10,000 kilometres across the southwestern Pacific and Southeast Asian region. The cable connects Australia, Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, Singapore, Solomon Islands, and Timor-Leste, serving a corridor that links major Australian cities with Southeast Asian hubs and Pacific island nations. It is owned and operated by BW Digital.

Route and Landings

In Australia, the cable lands at three points: Brisbane in Queensland, Darwin in the Northern Territory, and Sydney in New South Wales. The Darwin landing positions the cable to serve northern Australia's connections toward Southeast Asia, while Brisbane and Sydney represent the country's major eastern seaboard population centres.

In Indonesia, the cable has landing stations at Batam and Jakarta, connecting two of the country's strategically situated coastal locations. Singapore is served via a landing at Changi.

Papua New Guinea is connected through a landing at Port Moresby, the country's capital. The Solomon Islands are reached via Honiara, and Timor-Leste is served by a landing at Dili.

Ownership and Operators

Hawaiki Nui 1 is solely owned by BW Digital, the digital infrastructure division of BW Group, a global maritime and energy conglomerate. As a single-owner system, it differs from many cables in its region that are structured as multi-party consortia.

Status and Timeline

Hawaiki Nui 1 is planned for service with a Ready for Service (RFS) date of 2027. The system is not yet in operation.

Regional Context

The southwestern Pacific and Southeast Asian corridor is served by a number of long-haul submarine cable systems. Hawaiki Nui 1, at 10,000 kilometres, is considerably shorter in total length than regional peers such as the Southern Cross Cable Network (30,500 km, RFS 2000), PEACE Cable (25,000 km, RFS 2022), SeaMeWe-6 (21,700 km, RFS 2026), and the Asia-America Gateway Cable System (20,000 km, RFS 2009), reflecting its more focused geographic footprint within the Australia–Southeast Asia–Pacific islands corridor rather than a transoceanic span. Its planned 2027 RFS places it among a newer generation of systems entering service alongside and after SeaMeWe-6.

Strategic Role

With nine landing points across six countries, Hawaiki Nui 1 provides direct cable connectivity between Australia's three largest coastal hubs, the Indonesian archipelago, Singapore, and smaller Pacific nations including Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, and Timor-Leste. The inclusion of Honiara and Dili in particular addresses connectivity for countries with comparatively limited access to submarine cable infrastructure. The Darwin landing further creates a direct link between northern Australia and the Southeast Asian cable environment centred on Singapore and the Indonesian islands of Batam and Java.