Turkey intercepted and turned back a Gibraltar-flagged research vessel conducting seabed surveys for a planned fiberoptic cable in the eastern Mediterranean, saying it was operating without permission in waters Ankara claims as part of its continental shelf, according to Turkish and Greek media reports.
The Fugro Gauss was stopped last week while working on the East to Med Data Corridor (EMC), an $850 million subsea cable system intended to connect Europe to Saudi Arabia via Greece and Cyprus. The project is backed by Saudi Telecom subsidiary stc/center3, Greece’s Public Power Corporation and Cyprus-Greece-based TTSA. Cyprus’s state-owned CYTA has withdrawn.
Turkey’s defense ministry said the vessel was acting on a Cypriot navigational warning that violated Turkey’s maritime jurisdiction. Ankara issued a counter-NAVTEX, a maritime safety alert, and deployed air and naval units, including a Gabya-class frigate, to monitor the vessel, which later left the area.
Under international law, activities such as laying cables or conducting scientific research on a country’s continental shelf require prior coordination with the coastal state, the ministry said, citing Turkey’s maritime claims filed with the United Nations in 2020. Greece and Cyprus reject those claims, arguing that the area lies within their exclusive economic zones under the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, which Turkey has not signed.
According to a report by state broadcaster ERT from Cyprus that cited a government source in Nicosia, there was no harassment or attempt to obstruct the Fugro Gauss by Turkish forces. The source said the only development was an counter-NAVTEX issued by Ankara, considered by the internationally recognized Cyprus government as illegal.
The EMC is part of a broader push to expand high-speed digital connectivity between Europe, the Middle East and Asia. But its proposed route runs through contested waters, adding another flashpoint to the eastern Mediterranean, where disputes over maritime boundaries have already complicated energy exploration and infrastructure projects.
Turkish officials say they will keep monitoring the cable project and intervene again if work resumes without coordination. The consortium behind the EMC has not publicly discussed alternative routes.