Ionian Sea

Greek lawmakers ratified on Wednesday evening four contracts for hydrocarbon exploration off Crete and in the Ionian Sea.

Voting for the concessions were MPs of ruling New Democracy, KINAL and Greek Solution, while the main opposition SYRIZA expressed reservations. The Communist Party and MeRA25 voted against them.

Conservation group World Wildlife Fund (WWF) has warned against hydrocarbon exploration off the Ionian island of Zakynthos.
Greece has reportedly allocated 17,000 square kilometers of the popular tourist island to oil companies prompting concerns from activists over the potential impact of drilling for oil and gas.

Windy conditions in the Ionian Sea on Saturday have prompted authorities to halt ferry services to and from the islands of Zakynthos and Cephalonia.

According to the Greek meteorological service, winds in the area reached 8-9 on the Beaufort scale.

Eight people have been arrested in western Greece, accused of running a network that smuggled undocumented migrants across the Ionian Sea to Italy, the police said in an announcement on Friday.

Following the series of earthquakes that have shaken Zakynthos in recent days, Greek airline Sky Express has announced that it is cutting its ticket fares from Athens to the Ionian island to 29.37 euros (final price) and from Zakynthos to Athens to 24.90 euros.

This concerns all bookings for this month made by next Tuesday, November 6.

Hydrocarbon exploration in the Ionian Sea, in the areas of Patra Bay and Katakolo in the Peloponnese, will begin next year.

The announcement was made by Yannis Bassias, the head of Greece's oil and gas resources management company (HHRM), during a conference Tuesday.

Dozens of aftershocks have rattled the Ionian island of Zakynthos and regions further afield following a powerful earthquake on Friday morning.

The Geodynamic Institute of Athens said the largest quake measured 4.0 on the Richter scale.

Coast guard officers in the Ionian Sea on Saturday rescued a foreign national whose yacht broke down in the middle of a powerful storm that is bashing southern and eastern Greece.

The yacht suffered engine failure and its main mast was smashed some 40 nautical miles off the coast of Cephalonia when the captain, who has not been identified, issued an SOS.

A Mediterranean storm with tropical characteristics swept into the southwestern Peloponnese on Saturday morning, bringing 90 km/h winds, driving rain and crashing waves to otherwise placid seaside communities like Methoni, Finikounda, Koroni and further north to the regional capital of Kalamata.

Alpha and Piraeus Bank are in advanced talks with investors interested in the Merlin Estate on the Ionian island of Corfu, which, given its history, is one of the most emblematic properties in their portfolios.