The Hellenic Navy has extended a series of naval exercises for the sixth time, granting an additional four-month extension as Athens seeks to prevent the transportation of Russian oil off its coastlines.

The exercises, originally scheduled to end on November 15, will now continue until mid-March—more than ten months after they began—according to an announcement on the website of the Hydrographic Service of the Hellenic Navy, cited by Bloomberg.

According to the international media outlet, the Laconian Gulf was once a hotspot for ship routes and old tankers transporting Russian oil.

As a result, Athens announced in May that it would conduct naval exercises in the area, prohibiting the entry of commercial vessels.

The government had previously stated that the exercises aimed to stop the transportation of cargoes deemed by the global maritime safety organization as hazardous to maritime security.

As a result, the transshipment of Russian oil has been moved to several new locations, including the Mediterranean, the Red Sea, and offshore West Africa.