APOCS-2 subsea cable deliberately cut (January 2024)

Bell's subsea fibre-optic cable across the Cabot Strait, which runs roughly 130 kilometres between Dingwall in northern Cape Breton, Nova Scotia, and Codroy in southwestern Newfoundland and serves as the primary connection for internet, television and long-distance communications between the two provinces, was severed on or around 04 January 2024. According to Global News, the January break occurred about five kilometres from Aspy Bay. It was the first of two deliberate cuts to the same line.

Bell publicly said both breaks were deliberate. The roughly three-centimetre cable is wrapped in coils of thick wire that act as armour, and when crews later retrieved the severed ends they found the cable had been sliced clean, as if someone had used a specialized tool. Reporting suggests the line was snagged and hauled to the surface before being cut. Bell rerouted traffic so that customers saw little disruption, and the company repaired the cable and reburied it deeper in the seabed.

Much of the coverage bundles the two incidents together, and few specifics of the first cut are separately documented beyond its date and approximate location. According to Global News, the RCMP determined there was insufficient evidence to proceed with charges over the January 2024 break. The charge that was eventually laid relates to a second deliberate cut on 24 December 2024, after which a 33-year-old man from Ingonish, Nova Scotia, was charged with mischief causing more than $5,000 in damage.

The available evidence points to a domestic Canadian criminal matter in national waters rather than foreign state hybrid warfare. The RCMP, as reported by CBC News, found the conduct had nothing to do with national security or a desire to damage critical infrastructure. The motive remains unestablished, and investigators did not lay a charge for the January 2024 cut, citing insufficient evidence. The strongest verified facts are the deliberate severing of an armoured cable in the Cabot Strait, the apparent use of a specialized tool, and the later charge tied to a second deliberate cut on 24 December 2024. First-cut specifics beyond date and location are not separately documented.