SAIPEM12000

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Drill ship left to Morocco after Turkish blockade

The "Saipem 12000" which the Turkish navy prevented to drill in the Cypriot waters headed to Morocco on Feb 27 without carrying out the planned gas exploration. She was to explore a block of the Cyprus Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) but was blocked for two weeks by the Turkish Navy, under the pretext of "military maneuvers" in the area. Ankara called for the suspension of offshore hydrocarbon exploration by the Republic of Cyprus, in the name of the "inalienable rights" of the Cypriot-Turkish community, as long as a political solution in the divided island since 1974 has not been found. After diplomatic negotiations failed, the ship finally abandoned its mission on Feb 23 after two weeks of blockage at sea. The ship anchored off the southern port of Limassol to refuel before heading to Morocco. It will return to Cyprus when conditions permit. Just before the start of the blocking of the vessel, Eni and Total had announced the discovery of significant gas reserves in another block of the Cyprus EEZ, and Cyprus had signed with Greece, Israel and Italy a Memorandum of Understanding for the construction of the world's longest submarine natural gas pipeline. The Cypriot authorities have assured that this episode is only a setback that would not question the country's strategy for hydrocarbon research.

Turkish warships threatened to sink drill ship

Turkish warships harassed the "Saipem 12000" and threatened to sink it on Feb 23 in the Exclusive Economic Zone of Cyprus, with the ship forced to make the necessary maneuvers so as to avoid a collision. Four or five ships of the Turkish navy tried to once again obstruct the drill ship of Eni, that has over the last couple of weeks been prevented from performing its duty to search for hydrocarbons at Block 3 off Cyprus. In a last-ditch effort before departing for Morocco, the drill ship attempted to approach the spot where it was supposed to begin its surveying, but the Turkish ships nearly caused a collision, that was averted in the last minute, after issuing clear threats to the Italian vessel that it would be sunk. Eni’s ship left the spot and started sailing west, setting course for Morocco. A similar incident had occurred two weeks ago, when the "Saipem 12000" made its first efforts to approach the designated surveying spot, but a Turkish vessel set a collision course against it. The collision was eventually avoided through the maneuvering by the Italian captain after his calls on his Turkish opposite number to change course went to no avail.

Turkey blocked drilling ship

On Feb 9, 2018, a naval incident occurred south-east of Cyprus in the exclusive economic zone of the country. The Turkish Navy prevented the entry of the " Saipem 12000" into the Block Offshore 3 gas field. The ship has since been immobilized outside the drilling area. This is the latest incident between Turkey and the northern part of Cyprus. The Greek-Cypriot President Nicos Anastasiades on Feb 21 urged Turkey to stop blocking gas exploration. Nicosia accused Ankara of violating international law by blocking the ship chartered by the Italian company Eni, which holds exploration licenses in the Cypriot EEZ. The blocking of the ship came after Nicosie announced the discovery of significant gas reserves in one of the blocks which were explored jointly by Eni and French Total.