Exclusive economic zone

The drill ship West Capella sailed from the Spanish port of Tenerife on Thursday headed for the Cypriot exclusive economic zone (EEZ). The ship, which is flying a Panamanian flag, is expected to arrive at field 11 off the Cypriot coast on July 12 and conduct sea drills on behalf of a consortium by energy giants TOTAL-ENI.

Athens and Nicosia are raising alarm bells as Turkey continues to dispute Cyprus's exclusive economic zone (EEZ) and, in particular, its rights to hydrocarbon exploration in Block 6, which was recently licensed to a consortium of Italy's Eni and France's Total.

In a letter to the United Nations, Turkey’s UN Permanent Representative threatens Cyprus but also oil giants ENI and TOTAL over offshore hydrocarbon exploration in Block 6 in Cypriot Exclusive Economic Zone. Ankara not only disputes the possibility of Cyprus to carry out exploration or give licenses but also declares in the most formal way that Block 6 belongs to Turkish continental shelf.

Nicosia has reacted to objections from Turkey to planned hydrocarbon exploration in block 6, within the island's exclusive economic zone (EEZ), that was recently licensed to a consortium of Italy's Eni and France's Total.

Turkey upped the ante with Cyprus on Thursday, reiterating its warning that it will not accept "unilateral" actions by Nicosia with regard to gas exploration and exploitation off the island's southern coast.

Ankara says that any deal signed by Nicosia regarding the exploration for gas reserves in plots south of the island constitutes a unilateral act.

Tensions between Nicosia and Ankara could escalate next week as there are fears that Turkish plans to perform deep-sea drilling and seismic surveys for oil and natural gas resources in the Eastern Mediterranean could be carried out within Cyprus's exclusive economic zone (EEZ), where the island's government announced on Tuesday it will conduct its own research.

Theresa May is expected to announce within weeks that the UK will reclaim its waters for British fishermen by pulling out of a deal that pre-dates the EU, The Telegraph writes.

The Prime Minister will take Britain out of the 1964 London convention which allows European fishing vessels to access waters six to twelve nautical miles from British shores.

Greece has written to the United Nations to complain about and challenge a letter from Turkey's Permanent Mission that questions Greek sovereign rights in the Eastern Mediterranean.

The representative of Greece’s Permanent Mission to the United Nations, Catherine Boura officially rejected the positions expressed by the Turkish government which dispute the right of Greece for the demarcation of maritime zones, i.e the sea-shelf and the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ).

The Greek Foreign Ministry responded to a statement issued by the Turkish Foreign Ministry regarding the new procedures for hydrocarbon exploration permits.