A Turkish Navy frigate has issued a radio warning to the French-flagged vessel Abeille Marengo, which is conducting survey operations in international waters under permits granted by Greece, within the Greek continental shelf.

The Turkish frigate TCG Gokova relayed a message reiterating Turkey’s Navtex notice concerning the need for its “consent.” The message made no reference to any licence issued by Turkish authorities. Moreover, had the vessel been operating under a Turkish licence, there would have been no reason for such a transmission.

The Greek Navy frigate Limnos responded immediately.

The Abeille Marengo is continuing its operations normally, under the permit issued by the Greek authorities and in accordance with the Greek Navtex notice.

As Kathimerini reported earlier, surveys for the Greece-Cyprus Great Sea Interconnector (GSI) electricity link in international waters overlap with most of the project’s route. This means that the survey vessel will be monitored throughout its passage along the planned route within the demarcated Greek exclusive economic zone (EEZ).

The main scenario envisaged was a radio hail from a nearby Turkish vessel to the bridge of the Abeille Marengo. In the transmission, delivered in the manner of a loudspeaker announcement, the Turkish vessel would ostensibly welcome the research ship while asserting that its activities were taking place within the “Turkish continental shelf.”

Under Ankara’s interpretation, as reflected in the Turkish-Libyan memorandum and its letter to the United Nations setting out the claimed “outer limits” of the Turkish continental shelf, most of the vessel’s route falls within Turkish jurisdiction.

Similar incidents have occurred in the past during other operations. The same approach has been seen during surveys for the East to Med Corridor (EMC), an optical-fibre cable project intended to connect the Middle East with Europe. The key difference is that, in the EMC case, permission was also sought from Turkey, whereas for the GSI project Ankara was merely notified through a diplomatic note.

Athens has already decided that the Greek naval presence, whether provided by the navy or the coast guard, will match the Turkish presence. In other words, if a Turkish Navy frigate or coast guard vessel is deployed in the area, Greece will send a unit of comparable capability.

Source: Ekathimerini.com