Turkey sends drilling ship off southern Cyprus

Turkey is sending an oil and gas drilling ship to waters off southern Cyprus where Greek Cypriot authorities have already awarded exploration rights to Italian and French companies, according to Turkish statements on Thursday.
The move marks the first time Turkey and Cyprus, which have competing claims in the eastern Mediterranean, will be looking for hydrocarbons in the same exploration block.
The drilling ship Yavuz is on its way to a new well called Guzelyurt-1, Turkish Energy Minister Fatih Donmez tweeted.
Donmez did not disclose the location of the well, but in a separate shipping advisory Turkey released the coordinates within which the drilling ship will be operating.
The coordinates, about 90 km (56 miles) southwest of the port of Limassol, fall within an oil and gas exploration block which Cyprus has awarded to Eni and Total.
The advisory says...