SEAX-1

Overview

SEAX-1 is a short regional submarine cable system spanning approximately 250 km across the waters connecting Indonesia, Malaysia, and Singapore. Operating within the Southeast Asian maritime corridor, it provides direct submarine connectivity among these three neighbouring countries. The cable is owned and operated by SEAX.

Route and Landings

In Indonesia, SEAX-1 has a landing point at Batam, an island situated close to Singapore in the Riau Islands province.

In Malaysia, the cable lands at Mersing, a coastal town on the eastern shore of the Malay Peninsula facing the South China Sea.

In Singapore, the landing point is located at Tanah Merah, on the eastern coast of the main island.

Ownership and Operators

SEAX-1 is wholly owned by SEAX, which focuses on submarine cable infrastructure serving the Singapore and broader Southeast Asian market.

Status and Timeline

SEAX-1 entered service in 2018 and has been operational for approximately eight years. It currently carries live traffic across the Indonesia–Malaysia–Singapore corridor.

Regional Context

SEAX-1 operates in one of the world's most active submarine cable corridors, where Singapore alone hosts 33 cables across eight landing points, and Indonesia accommodates 40 cables across 97 landing points. At 250 km, SEAX-1 is a comparatively short system, longer than only 14% of the other cables touching the same countries — reflecting its role as a near-shore, intra-regional link rather than a long-haul intercontinental route.

The corridor also hosts much longer systems, including Project Waterworth and EAC-C2C reaching tens of thousands of kilometres, as well as regional trunk cables such as Asia Africa Europe-1 (AAE-1), PEACE Cable, SeaMeWe-6, and the Asia-America Gateway (AAG) Cable System. SEAX-1 occupies a distinct, shorter-range niche within this broader infrastructure landscape.

Measured performance over the last 60 days across 279 ping tests shows an average round-trip latency of 57.5 ms, with a best recorded result of 9.4 ms, consistent with the short physical distances involved.

Strategic Role

By connecting Batam in Indonesia, Mersing in Malaysia, and Tanah Merah in Singapore, SEAX-1 supports direct submarine data exchange across three countries that share close geographic proximity and strong economic ties. Its comparatively compact footprint positions it as a targeted intra-regional link, complementing the larger international systems that traverse the same waters.