GSI: Abeille Marengo Prepares To Sail As Seabed Surveys Near

November 7 marks a milestone for the Greece-Cyprus electricity interconnection (GSI), as, barring any unforeseen developments, the French-flagged vessel Abeille Marengo sets the major investment project in motion starting on Saturday, November 7.

Following the issuance of a NAVTEX, the Abeille Marengo has reportedly scheduled its departure from the port of Heraklion for 9 a.m. on Saturday.

Calibrating the Instruments

According to sources, the first miles traveled by the Abeille Marengo, which has been chartered by Nexans, will involve tests and special adjustments to the depth-measuring instruments it carries. This is the calibration of its scientific equipment (sonar, echo sounders, etc.).

It is the final check carried out at sea and at specific depths before the vessel begins surveys to find the best undersea route for the GSI cable.

The specially equipped vessel has been in the port of Heraklion, Crete, since October 27, and according to the NAVTEX, the work may last until March 6, 2027.

The GSI Project’s Milestones

According to reports, the surveys will be carried out from southeast of Karpathos, and the vessel will continue up to 12 nautical miles off Cyprus. So far, 60% of the marine surveys along the sea route from Greece to Cyprus have been completed. In 2024, this work was halted off Kasos.

The Greece-Cyprus electricity interconnection is now on track for implementation, and the next operational and regulatory milestone is the release of the amount Nicosia must pay under its intergovernmental agreement with Athens. This amounts to 25 million euros, which the President of the Republic of Cyprus, Nikos Christodoulides, pledged in a recent television interview would be paid once the NAVTEX was issued.

The completion of the seabed surveys by the French vessel Abeille Marengo will also pave the way for additional financing of the GSI project from the European Investment Bank. According to reports, the EIB is reviewing the technical and financial data to fund the electricity interconnection with around 1 billion euros.

French Support for the GSI

The GSI, a project that has been 15 years in the making, from its conception as an idea to its current form as an investment plan, aims at the energy integration of the EU. Cyprus is the last country that remains energy-isolated from the rest of Europe, and the electricity interconnection will bring it into the single market while also offering greater energy security.

The project gained momentum last August, when the participation of French giant Meridiam in the Great Sea Interconnector consortium was announced. The infrastructure investment group holds 66% of the GSI and IPTO (ADMIE) holds 34%. The French operational involvement has strengthened the project’s geopolitical weight.

The Greece-Cyprus cable has been designed, and the procedures for its extension to Israel are also advancing.

The project’s technical specifications are impressive: the electricity interconnection between the three countries, using undersea and land cables, will be 1,208 km long, of which 898 km covers the Crete-Cyprus section. It will have a transmission capacity of 1,000 MW and a voltage of 500 kV, and the cables will be laid at depths of up to 3,000 meters. The project’s estimated budget is 1.9 billion euros.