Ships

Seismic analysis activities will be conducted in a 10,000-square-meter area in the Black Sea for new natural gas discoveries, Energy Minister Fatih Dönmez told a group of journalists on March 3.

"We are aiming to drill a new exploratory well in one of the gas fields that is deemed to have potential," Dönmez said.

Turkey on Feb. 24 marked the anniversary of 1942 Struma disaster, which killed hundreds of people when a vessel carrying Jewish refugees was torpedoed by a Soviet submarine in the Black Sea.

In a statement, the Turkish Foreign Ministry said commemoration ceremonies have been annually held in Istanbul's Sarayburnu district on Feb. 24 since 2015.

Resuming Talks

The Turkish drilling vessel Yavuz (L) leaves from Dilovasi port as a Turkish military ship accompanies it, in Kocaeli, Turkey, 20 June 2019. Photo: EPA-EFE/ERDEM SAHIN

A three-week joint military exercise involving Turkish and Pakistani special forces ended on Feb. 20.

The closing ceremony of the drill ATATÜRK-XI 2021 was held at the Pakistani military's Special Service headquarters in Tarbela, northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkwa province, which borders neighboring Afghanistan, said a statement from the Pakistan Army.

Turkey will start using gas from the Sakarya Gas Field in the Black Sea in the first quarter of 2023, government sources told Anadolu Agency on Feb. 11. 

Turkish and U.S. naval forces conducted a joint maritime exercise in the Black Sea, Turkey's National Defense Ministry said on Feb. 10.

Developments are expected this week regarding the Hellenic Navy's frigate program as the Americans and the French will present their final proposals to the political and military leadership of the Defense Ministry.

Russia's state-of-the art frigate Admiral Kasatonov sailed into the port of Piraeus last week along with a number of escort vessels for a working visit, according to a statement by the Russian Embassy on social media. The Russian frigate docked at a Greek port that is controlled by a Chinese state company, just 5 nautical miles from a Greek naval base.

Coastal shipping sources consider the decision of Italy's Grimaldi group to add two more ships to the Greece-Italy line as a "declaration of war."

On Friday the Italian group announced it was doubling the number of ferries on the Adriatic route, with two of them sailing from Ancona to Patra and the other two from Ancona to Igoumenitsa.

A Panama-flagged freighter carrying salt ran aground at the entrance of Katakolo's harbor, in western Greece, on Friday.

No injuries were reported among its 16 crew members, all of them foreign nationals.

A tug boat and a coast guard rescue vessel were sent to assist the ship and crew.