Greece
Gerapetritis briefs party leaders on the cable project: the French survey ship is in international waters and works only under a Greek licence and Greek NAVTEX
After briefing the leaders of Greece's parliamentary parties on Saturday, Foreign Minister George Gerapetritis said the Abeille Marengo continues its survey work in international waters solely on the basis of Greek authorisation and Greek NAVTEX.
The French research vessel carrying out the seabed surveys for the Greece–Cyprus electricity interconnector, the Great Sea Interconnector (GSI), is in international waters and continues its work only under a Greek licence and a Greek NAVTEX. That was the central message from Foreign Minister George Gerapetritis after he briefed the leaders of Greece’s parliamentary parties on the project on Saturday, November 14. The briefing came in a week of tension with Ankara over the surveys.
“The French research vessel is in international waters and continues its research work on the basis of the Greek licensing and the Greek NAVTEX, exclusively and solely,” Gerapetritis said in a statement issued by the Foreign Ministry.
The minister thanked the leaders who attended, calling the briefing an institutional gesture. He noted that it was the fourth briefing of party leaders on foreign-policy issues, in addition to the regular meetings of the National Council on Foreign Policy and his appearances before the Parliament’s Committee on National Defence and Foreign Affairs. The Foreign Ministry had announced the briefing on Wednesday, November 11. Gerapetritis closed his statement by saying the country will continue to pursue an active foreign policy to strengthen its international standing.
The vessel is the French-flagged Abeille Marengo, which left Heraklion on Tuesday, November 10, for the surveys that will allow the cable to be laid. Gerapetritis signed the survey and laying permit on Friday, November 6, at the request of the French company Nexans acting for the GSI, and the Hellenic Navy Hydrographic Service issued NAVTEX 1411/26 for areas east and south-east of Crete. Turkey responded with its own notices, claiming that part of the area south of Kasos belongs to its continental shelf.
On the night of November 10 the Turkish Navy issued NAVTEX 1127/26, presenting the surveys as work carried out “with the consent of the Turkish authorities”. The Heraklion station answered with NAVTEX 1441/26, describing the Turkish notice as “null and void” and the station that issued it as “unauthorised”. The Greek reply is covered in our report on the frigate Limnos and the Turkish frigate Gökova.
On Friday, November 13, speaking at the Sulaymaniyah Strategic Forum in Iraqi Kurdistan, Gerapetritis had said that “the project is moving forward” and that Athens will not tolerate any interference with it.
