The Hellenic Coast Guard has begun the process of allowing a French vessel to carry out seabed surveys for the electricity interconnector between Crete and Cyprus. It is another step towards the issuance of the NAVTEX that will signal the resumption of work, which has been on hold since 2024.
The Hellenic Coast Guard announced an “application for an exemption to use the vessel ‘ABEILLE MARENGO’ (IMO: 9388613), flying the French flag, to conduct marine surveys for the installation of direct-current submarine cables as part of the Crete-Cyprus interconnector” (Great Sea Interconnector).
A foreign-flagged vessel requires an exemption to operate, which is granted in two stages:
- Application for an exemption. The Hellenic Coast Guard sends the request to all port authorities, the Hellenic Chamber of Shipping, and the associations of tugboat owners and short-sea shipping companies. It asks whether there is a Greek vessel capable of doing the same job. The deadline is usually a few days, and silence is taken to mean “no”.
- Granting of an exemption. If no Greek vessel is found, approval is issued for a specific period. The approval is notified, among others, to the Hellenic Navy Hydrographic Service, which issues NAVTEX notices.
If the timetable of previous similar cases is followed, the exemption will be granted within a few days. The document will set the time window for the work and pave the way for the NAVTEX.