Repairs have begun on the Northern Marianas' communications cable that was severed two weeks ago.
The CS Durable arrives in the Northern Marianas to fix the territory's only communications cable. Photo: Mark Rabago
A repair ship contracted by the service provider, IT&E, arrived in the CNMI yesterday near Saipan.
Our CNMI correspondant, Mark Rabago, says the ship, CS Durable, had to be inspected by the US coastguard before it could start fixing the fibre optic cable.
He says the company has set a 48 hour deadline for the cable to be repaired once the break is located.
Businesses have been severely affected by the communications blackout and Mr Rabago says one estimate puts the damage for the day of the blackout at 21 million US dollars.