Sainte Marie, Réunion

Sainte Marie, Réunion: Submarine Cable Landing Point

Sainte Marie is a commune on the northern coast of Réunion, a French overseas department in the Indian Ocean, situated just east of the island's capital, Saint-Denis. As a landing point for submarine cable infrastructure, Sainte Marie connects Réunion to neighboring islands in the southwestern Indian Ocean. One submarine cable comes ashore here, linking the island to both Madagascar and Mauritius and forming a regional inter-island corridor.

The cable landing at Sainte Marie is part of the Lower Indian Ocean Network (LION), a system that stitches together three island territories across the southwestern Indian Ocean. This regional connectivity places Sainte Marie within a triangular network of submarine links spanning Réunion, Madagascar, and Mauritius — an important cluster of island economies in this part of the world.

Cables Landing at Sainte Marie, Réunion

The Lower Indian Ocean Network (LION) is the sole submarine cable landing at Sainte Marie. The system spans approximately 1,060 km and reached ready-for-service status in 2009. In addition to Sainte Marie in Réunion, LION connects to landing points in Madagascar and Mauritius, providing direct submarine links among these three southwestern Indian Ocean territories. The cable's relatively short length reflects its role as a regional inter-island system rather than a long-haul intercontinental route.

Regional Context

Réunion is served by three submarine cable landing points in total: Sainte Marie, Le Port, and Saint Paul, each hosting a single cable. Sainte Marie is therefore equal in cable count to both of its regional peers, and the island's submarine connectivity is distributed across these three geographically distinct sites rather than concentrated at any single hub. Together, these landing points give Réunion redundancy across separate coastal locations.

Network Role

Sainte Marie functions as a single-cable terminus rather than a multi-cable hub, with the LION system providing its only submarine connection. Through that cable, Sainte Marie enables direct submarine routing between Réunion, Madagascar, and Mauritius — a trio of island territories that might otherwise depend on longer, indirect routes traversing more distant parts of the Indian Ocean. The 1,060 km length of LION underscores that this is a purpose-built short-haul system designed specifically to serve this southwestern Indian Ocean island cluster.

Within Réunion's broader submarine cable geography, Sainte Marie's landing point contributes one of three separate onward paths from the island, meaning that the regional inter-island route served by LION has its own dedicated coastal entry point distinct from the cables handled at Le Port and Saint Paul. This geographic distribution across the island's landing points strengthens the overall resilience of Réunion's position within the southwestern Indian Ocean submarine cable network.