Khasab, Oman

Khasab, Oman: Submarine Cable Landing Point

Khasab is the capital of the Musandam Governorate, an exclave of Oman situated at the tip of the Musandam Peninsula, bordering the United Arab Emirates near the Strait of Hormuz. Its coastal position along one of the world's most strategically active waterways makes it a natural site for submarine cable infrastructure. Two submarine cables land at Khasab, connecting Oman to a range of countries across the Gulf region, the Middle East, and South Asia.

The two cables landing at Khasab serve distinct corridors. The first, FALCON, is a long-haul system spanning 10,300 km that links Khasab to Bahrain, Egypt, India, Iran, Iraq, and Kuwait, establishing an intercontinental arc stretching from the Gulf of Oman through the Persian Gulf and toward the Red Sea and Indian subcontinent. The second, OMRAN/EPEG, is a shorter regional system of 600 km connecting Oman directly to Iran, reinforcing the bilateral connectivity across the Strait of Hormuz. Together, these two systems give Khasab a dual role as both a regional Gulf hub and a node on a broader intercontinental route.

Cables Landing at Khasab, Oman

FALCON is a submarine cable system measuring 10,300 km in length, which reached ready-for-service status in 2006. In addition to Khasab, Oman, FALCON connects Bahrain, Egypt, India, Iran, Iraq, and Kuwait. This makes it a wide-reaching system spanning both the Persian Gulf and the broader Gulf of Oman corridor, linking Gulf states to South Asia and the Red Sea region in a single cable network.

OMRAN/EPEG is a shorter submarine cable system of 600 km, which reached ready-for-service status in 2013. The cable connects Khasab, Oman to Iran, providing a direct cross-strait link between the two countries across the Strait of Hormuz. As a regional system, it complements the longer FALCON route by offering a dedicated bilateral connection at considerably shorter distance.

Regional Context

Within Oman's submarine cable infrastructure — which spans 19 cables across 8 landing points — Khasab ranks in the middle tier by cable count, hosting 2 cables. It sits alongside Muscat and Qalhat, which also host 2 cables each, while larger hubs such as Barka (8 cables), Al Seeb (6 cables), and Salalah (6 cables) account for the majority of Oman's cable capacity. Khasab's geographic position in the Musandam exclave distinguishes it from other Omani landing points through its direct proximity to the Strait of Hormuz and Iran.

Network Role

Khasab functions as a two-cable landing point serving two complementary connectivity roles. Through FALCON, it participates in an intercontinental system connecting the Gulf states, South Asia, and the Red Sea region, linking six countries across a 10,300 km route. Through OMRAN/EPEG, it maintains a shorter, direct cross-strait connection to Iran, covering 600 km. This pairing means Khasab supports both long-haul international routing and near-regional bilateral connectivity from the same coastal location.

In the wider Omani and Gulf submarine cable graph, Khasab's position at the Musandam Peninsula places it as the northernmost Omani landing point, the one closest to the Persian Gulf's entrance. Its role as the terminus of FALCON's Gulf segment and as one endpoint of OMRAN/EPEG gives the Musandam Governorate a distinct presence in the regional cable map that no other Omani landing point, given their southern and eastern coastal positions, is geographically positioned to replicate.