BREAKING: Cyprus answers Turkey with a NAVTEX on the Abeille Marengo – the “only authorised station” is JRCC Larnaca

After Athens, Nicosia has also answered with a NAVTEX to the Turkish announcement on the surveys of the “Abeille Marengo”. The Joint Rescue Coordination Centre (JRCC) in Larnaca issued a message to mariners that rejects the Turkish NAVTEX 1127/26, writing that it “has not been coordinated with the relevant authorities of the Republic of Cyprus”.

The Turkish NAVTEX had been issued on Tuesday, November 10 and presented the French vessel’s work for the Greece–Cyprus cable as surveys carried out “with the consent” of Ankara, as we reported. It was followed by Greek NAVTEX 1441/26, which declared the Turkish notice null and void. With the new message Cyprus too responds, for the part of the surveys within its own EEZ.

What the Cypriot message says

The text of the Larnaca JRCC has three parts. The first states that the Turkish message was not coordinated with the Cypriot authorities. The second recalls that the survey work of the “Abeille Marengo” within the Exclusive Economic Zone and continental shelf of the Republic of Cyprus has already been approved by Nicosia’s permit 05/2026 and announced by NAVTEX 345/26 of the same station.

The third part is the sharpest: the only authorised station in the NAVTEX area of responsibility of the Republic of Cyprus is the Larnaca JRCC, also known as Cyprus Radio with call sign 5BA. In practice, Nicosia does not recognise Turkey as competent to issue notices for work within its own EEZ, and for further information it refers mariners to the Larnaca JRCC. The message is valid until 00:01 UTC on March 20, 2027.

The move follows the Greek logic. Instead of leaving the Turkish wording of “consent” unanswered, Athens and Nicosia counter with their own permits and their own notices, so that it is on record who holds legal competence in each sea area. Turkey does not recognise the Republic of Cyprus and disputes much of the Cypriot EEZ, which is why its notices in the Eastern Mediterranean often overlap areas where Nicosia has issued its own. For the earlier Greek and Cypriot warnings for the cable see our report on the two NAVTEX from Cyprus and Greece.

The Abeille Marengo sailed from Heraklion to continue the seabed surveys along the route of the GSI cable, the project that will connect the electricity grids of Crete and Cyprus. The Cypriot response comes as President Nikos Christodoulides is in Antalya on Wednesday, November 11 for the UN climate conference COP31.

Read the original report in Greek at NEMESIS HD.