The vessel Kobi Ruegg is expected to begin geophysical surveys on Wednesday in waters west and southwest of Cyprus for the East to Med Corridor (EMC), a planned subsea telecoms cable linking Asia and Europe.
The operation has become the focus of a new maritime dispute after official Turkey challenged a Cypriot navigational warning authorizing the work, asserting that the survey area falls within Ankara’s claimed, but unrecognized continental shelf.
The Bahamas-flagged vessel is currently docked off Heraklion, Crete, according to a report published Monday by Greek media. The surveys are scheduled to run from Oct. 21 to Nov. 2 within the exclusive economic zone (EEZ) staked out by the Republic of Cyprus, following a NAVTEX issued by the Larnaca station on Oct. 15.
The operation concerns the EMC telecommunications cable, not the separate Greece-Cyprus electricity interconnector. The EMC is designed to carry data between Asia and Europe via Saudi Arabia, Cyprus and Greece, forming part of the region’s developing subsea communications infrastructure. The planned surveys are a preparatory step for the cable system.
The NAVTEX issued by the Larnaka station on Cyprus.
Ankara issues counter-NAVTEX
Turkey issued a counter-NAVTEX on Oct. 16, challenging the Cypriot notice. Ankara maintains that the survey area lies within the Turkish continental shelf, whose claimed outer limits it says were conveyed to the United Nations in a letter dated March 18, 2020.
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The Turkish notice also disputes the authority of the Larnaca maritime station to issue the warning, arguing that the area falls under the jurisdiction of Turkey’s Antalya station. Ankara further reiterated its position on the status of the Republic of Cyprus, a UN and EU member-states that it does not recognize.
The Cypriot notice specifies two survey routes, each within a corridor 10 nautical miles wide, extending five nautical miles on either side of the designated lines. It requests that other vessels keep a five-nautical-mile distance from the survey operations. The warning remains in effect until Nov. 2, with cancellation scheduled for Nov. 3