Newsflash from Wednesday, 11 November 2026:
Turkey responded with its own maritime notice. Greece answered within hours, declaring the Turkish move void.
The Ship Leaves Heraklion
According to cretalive.gr, the Abeille Marengo departed Heraklion in the afternoon and spent the following night moving northwest of the port. Its position was tracked shortly before 9 a.m. on Wednesday, 11 November 2026.
The vessel has been chartered by NEXANS. According to zarpanews.gr, it sails under the French flag as “VB Abeille Marengo”, with MMSI number 228505700 and IMO number 9388613.
The project is the Great Sea Interconnector (GSI), an undersea power cable designated by the European Union as a Project of Common Interest.
Why the Ship First Headed the “Wrong” Way
At first glance, the ship appeared to sail in the opposite direction to its planned route. Cretalive.gr explains that this was only a calibration stage.
Before surveying, the crew must check and adjust the onboard instruments so that recording errors are eliminated and measurements are reliable. The company announced this procedure when the ship set sail.
Once calibration outside Heraklion port is complete, the vessel will first follow the route set out in the Greek NAVTEX. It will then continue along the positions described in the Cypriot NAVTEX.
No Fixed Timetable
It is not yet known at what speed the ship will travel, or how long it will take to reach the area of Karpathos (Kárpathos), the island between Crete and Rhodes in the Dodecanese.
The Abeille Marengo can work day and night, but cretalive.gr notes that bad weather can slow it down and make the work more difficult.
The Greek NAVTEX runs for six months, until March 2027. According to cretalive.gr, it could still be extended, as happened recently with the laying of a fibre-optic cable.
Turkey Issues a NAVTEX from Antalya
Late on the evening the ship departed, Turkey issued its own NAVTEX, numbered FA76-1127/26, from its station in Antalya. Cretalive.gr describes it as illegal and as an attempt by Ankara to project jurisdiction over the surveys.
The Greek side was not caught off guard. Cretalive.gr points out that Athens had already gauged Turkish reactions during the fibre-optic cable laying, when successive NAVTEX notices were issued.
Athens Responds: “Void and Without Effect”
Greece’s anti-NAVTEX, numbered 1441/26, carries a time stamp of 22:05 UTC on 10 November 2026, which is 00:05 on 11 November Greek time, as reported by zarpanews.gr.
In it, the Heraklion station states that an unauthorised station broadcast a NAVTEX about the GSI surveys. It declares the Turkish notice void and confirms that the Greek NAVTEX HA15-1411/26 remains fully in force.
Key points of the Greek notice:
- Three Greek permits are listed explicitly: 31373/07.06.2024, 9020/11.02.2026 and 65808/06.11.2026, the most recent issued on 6 November.
- Greek EEZ and continental shelf: a significant part of the survey lines in the Turkish notice lies within them, as defined by international law and Greek law 4001/2011.
- Exclusive competence: the Heraklion station is responsible for issuing NAVTEX in this area.
- Survey lines: two series of 11 geographic points each, running from east of Crete towards the Eastern Mediterranean.
- Duration: the anti-NAVTEX is scheduled to be cancelled on 20 March 2027 at 00:01 UTC.
Only Greece and Cyprus Were Asked
Diplomatic sources at the Greek Foreign Ministry said on the evening of Tuesday, 10 November, that Greece and Cyprus were the only countries to receive permit requests, and the only ones to issue permits. No request was made to Turkey.
Both sources report that Turkey invoked consent even though no permission had been requested from it. According to zarpanews.gr, the Turkish NAVTEX nowhere states that Turkey issued a permit.
The same diplomatic sources argued the Turkish notice has no real significance. It was issued after the ship had already started moving, using route details made public through the Greek NAVTEX.
The company itself confirmed in an announcement that the surveys are being carried out on the basis of the NAVTEX notices issued by the Greek and Cypriot authorities.
What does this mean for visitors?
For most holidaymakers and residents, daily life in Crete is unaffected. The work is a research survey at sea, not construction on land.
- Don’t be alarmed by the ship: if you see an unusual vessel moving back and forth off Heraklion, it may be the Abeille Marengo calibrating its equipment.
- Boaters, check notices: if you sail or charter a boat east of Crete or towards Karpathos, check the current Greek NAVTEX warnings, which remain in force until March 2027.
- Expect headlines, not disruption: exchanges of NAVTEX notices between Athens and Ankara are a diplomatic matter and have not affected ferries or beaches, according to the reports.
- Follow local news: timings may change with the weather, so outlets such as cretalive.gr are the best way to track the ship’s progress.
Sources: cretalive.gr, zarpanews.gr
