The first steps in the process of launching the first drilling operation in Greece in almost five decades have begun, as Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis had announced from New York, with an application for approval for the deployment of two specialised vessels to provide support for the drilling operation.

Energean, as operator of the consortium which, led by ExxonMobil, has acquired the exploration and exploitation rights for Block 2 in the Corfu area, submitted a request to the Greek authorities for approval of the deployment of two specialised vessels for support operations for the exploratory drilling.

According to the request, the two vessels, “SWIFT TIDE”, flying the flag of the Isle of Man, and “HIGHLAND CHIEFTAIN”, flying the flag of the United Kingdom, will undertake support operations for the offshore exploratory drilling, such as transporting personnel and transporting drilling equipment, materials, spare parts, consumables and other supplies between the onshore support base and the mobile offshore drilling unit (MODU).

The request states that the operations will take place from 01.02.2027 to 01.05.2027, which appears to confirm information from sources at the Ministry of Energy, who, following the meeting between S. Papastavrou and ExxonMobil Vice President John Ardill, said that the exploratory drilling will begin in March or April 2027.

In another development, however, Athens eventually issued a NAVTEX for the carrying out of certain repair works on the underwater Chios–Lesvos fibre-optic interconnection network of OTE, by the vessel OCEAN LINK, for which NAVTEX (201/26) was issued, concerning an area of the Greek continental shelf in international waters, west of Chios. The vessel’s operations are being discreetly monitored, in case Turkey repeats its established practice of harassing by radio vessels carrying out routine maintenance or cable and network-laying works in areas where it disputes the Greek continental shelf.