French cable maker Nexans has asked Greece for permission to resume seabed surveys for the Great Sea Interconnector (GSI), Reuters reported on Thursday, a step the news agency described as key to moving the long-delayed EU-backed power link with Cyprus forward.
Nexans, the project’s cable contractor, filed the application on the GSI’s behalf, Greek government spokesperson Pavlos Marinakis told reporters, according to Reuters. He said a French ship would carry out the work once the Greek coast guard and a ministerial committee that authorises marine research in Greek waters approve the request.
Marinakis also said Greece had “not made arrangements with the authorities of any state other than France and Cyprus” on the project, Reuters reported.
Turkey opposes the cable, and a dispute between Athens and Ankara over the sea area where it would be laid has slowed progress, according to Reuters. Ankara says any surveying requires prior coordination between the two countries because the route crosses an area covered by a 2019 maritime deal with Libya, which Athens rejects.
IPTO, Greece’s power grid operator, is developing the 1.9 billion euro project, which aims to connect the European mainland with Cyprus and later Israel, Reuters said.
Speaking in Athens last week, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Washington was “very committed” to the cable because it diversifies energy supplies, which he said was necessary given Russia’s war in Ukraine and the situation in the Strait of Hormuz, Reuters reported. He added that the US would use diplomacy to try to clear any hurdles.
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