Surveys off Crete are moving swiftly
The rapid passage of the research vessel Sanco Swift to the southwest of Crete in areas designated within the limits of the new navigational telex (Navtex) number 916/22 issued on Saturday morning by the Naval Hydrographic Station of the Hellenic Navy in Iraklio, essentially indicates the significance of research in said area.
The eagerness of the Sanco Swift to act swiftly was also demonstrated by the fact that its 12-kilometer-long cables were already deployed on Monday.
The rapid progress of the surveys also highlights the very intensive preparations that have been made by the ExxonMobil/HelleniQ Energy consortium.
This is due to the fact that the identification and analysis of targets that may contain hydrocarbon deposits has shown that a significant part of these are located in the area that was delineated on Saturday morning.
Both Saturday’s Navtex and the one that preceded it on November 7 have no time limit as their validity is set as active “until further notice.” This is because it is unclear how the exploration may develop in the coming months.
What is however becoming clear is that a partial extension of the investigations westward in the coming months should not be ruled out.
Already 10-15% of the first area announced on November 7 has been delimited by a Navtex issued by Malta.
As it seems, the island state of Malta is also seeking agreements on the possibility of delimiting an exclusive economic zone (EEZ) with neighboring countries, and the possibility of extending it eastward to a point where it meets the Greek one may increase its influence to a considerable extent.
