ATHENS

Greece's Foreign Ministry delivered a note verbale to the Libyan embassy in Athens on Tuesday refuting accusations that the seismic research vessel Sanco Swift is carrying out illegal activities south and west of the island of Crete (Girit). 

According to local reports citing diplomatic sources, the ministry claimed in the unsigned diplomatic note that the area where the seismic research vessel is operating is under Greek jurisdiction in accordance with the rules of the International Law of the Sea.

It noted that a memorandum of understanding signed between Türkiye and Libya was not recognized by Athens on the grounds that it violates the sovereign rights of Greece, and this was conveyed to the Libyan embassy.

The Sanco Swift is conducting seismic surveys for hydrocarbon deposits over an area covering 40,000 square kilometers in total off the western-southwestern coast of Crete in the southern Aegean and off the southwestern coast of the Peloponnese in the Ionian Sea.