Kastellorizo: Greek Coast Guard Shadows Turkish Research Vessel as Authorities Raise Alert

Greek authorities have placed waters south of Kastellorizo on full operational readiness after the Turkish research vessel R/V TÜBİTAK MARMARA departed the port of Marmaris.

According to the report, a Greek Coast Guard vessel has approached the research ship’s area of movement and is following it from a safe distance. The vessel is recording the ship’s movements while coordinating closely with the Hellenic Navy.

The deployment followed Turkey’s NAVTEX 0862/26, issued by the Antalya station. The notice reserves the area until Sept. 15 and links the research activity to a recently announced Turkish maritime park. Greek authorities describe the move as an attempt to establish facts on the water and claim administrative powers in the eastern Mediterranean.

The TÜBİTAK MARMARA is sailing southwest of Kastellorizo in an area Greece describes as legally open sea. The report says the Law of the Sea allows scientific research there, provided the ship limits its work to surface measurements such as salinity and water temperature. Greek surveillance is intended to deter any seabed research or effort to challenge Greece’s continental-shelf rights.

Athens has also responded administratively. The Greek station in Heraklion, Crete, issued an Anti-NAVTEX rejecting the Turkish notice and asserting that navigation coordination in the area falls exclusively under Greek jurisdiction. The Greek side says it will not accept challenges to its sovereign rights.