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ATHENS: Greece said on Thursday the developer of an EU-backed undersea power cable scheme in the eastern Mediterranean has applied for a license to resume seabed surveying, key for the long-delayed project to move ahead.<\/p>\n
Construction of the Great Sea Interconnector (GSI) aims to link the European mainland to Cyprus and later Israel, but is opposed by \u2060Turkiye.<\/p>\n
US Secretary of \u2060State Marco Rubio in Athens last week said the US was \u201cvery committed\u201d to the project as it promotes energy supply diversification, necessary due to Russia\u2019s war in Ukraine and the situation in the Strait of Hormuz.<\/p>\n
Greece\u2019s power grid operator IPTO is developing the \u20ac1.9 billion ($2.13 billion) scheme. French company Nexans, \u2060the cable contractor, has on behalf of the GSI applied for a Greek permit to survey the seabed, Greek government spokesperson Pavlos Marinakis told reporters on Thursday.<\/p>\n
Progress on the project has been slow amid a dispute between Greece and Turkiye over the maritime area that will be designated for laying down the cable.<\/p>\n
Greece hopes to resume seabed surveying to determine the route soon, a move Turkiye says would need prior coordination between the two countries as it crosses an \u2060area \u2060under a 2019 maritime deal with Libya, which Athens has rejected.<\/p>\n
Marinakis said surveying will be carried out by a French ship and would start after a Greek ministerial committee in charge of permitting marine research in Greek maritime zones and the Greek coast guard approve the request.<\/p>\n
\u201cWith regards to the project implementation, Greece has not made arrangements with the authorities of any state other than France and Cyprus \u2014 which is the obvious case,\u201d Marinakis said.<\/p>\n
Rubio said last week that the US will use diplomacy to try to remove any possible hurdles.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n