The French survey vessel Abeille Marengo arrived at the port of Heraklion, in Crete, on Tuesday, Oct. 27, ahead of planned seabed surveys for the Great Sea Interconnector (GSI), the €1.9 billion electricity cable project that will eventually link Greece and Cyprus.
The vessel departed Naples, Italy, on Friday, Oct. 23, and will use Crete as its base for operations in the eastern Mediterranean.
According to information reported by financial news outlet OT.gr, a NAVTEX notice authorizing the planned surveys is expected to be issued in the coming days. The notice has been requested by French cable manufacturer Nexans, which is responsible for constructing the submarine cable. The surveys are expected to begin southeast of Karpathos and continue toward Cyprus, ending 12 nautical miles off the Cypriot coast. The surveys will examine seabed conditions and help determine the cable’s precise route, a necessary step before installation.
A €1.9 Billion Electricity Link
The Great Sea Interconnector is designed to connect the electricity grids of Greece and Cyprus, with a possible future extension to Israel.
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Crete will serve as the starting point for the submarine connection to Cyprus, which accounts for 898 kilometers of the project’s planned total length of 1,208 kilometers, including submarine and land cables.
The interconnector is designed to transmit 1,000 megawatts of electricity at 500 kilovolts, with sections of the cable expected to be installed at depths of up to 3,000 meters.
The project has been designated a Project of Common Interest by the European Union and has secured €680 million in EU financial support. An application for additional financing has also been submitted to the European Investment Bank.
Maritime Disputes Complicate Survey Plans
The planned surveys also have diplomatic implications, given the unresolved maritime disputes in the eastern Mediterranean, between Greece and Turkey.
A separate survey vessel, the Kobi Ruegg, is currently operating southeast of Crete as part of the East Med Corridor (EMC), a proposed submarine fiber-optic network connecting Asia and Europe via Singapore, Saudi Arabia, Israel, Cyprus and Greece. Its operations are taking place in waters covered by the disputed maritime agreement between Turkey and Libya.