Irakleio Radio has now printed an official NAVWARN against a named hull on a four-month underwater-cable research track from the eastern Cretan Sea into the eastern Mediterranean, not a reprint of Saturday morning’s dedicated Drapano FORACS box and not a second Britoil Centurion oceanographic line. The working primary is Irakleio Radio NAVWARN 1411/26, broadcast as ZCZC HA15 061413 UTC NOV 26: EAST CRETAN SEA SOUTHEAST CRETAN SEA EAST MEDITERRANEAN SEA. RESEARCH OPERATION FOR UNDERWATER CABLE INSTALLATION WILL BE CONDUCTED BY ‘ABEILLE MARENGO’ FROM 06 NOV 26 UNTIL 06 MAR 27 IN THE LINE BETWEEN THE POINTS: 35 24.98N – 024 56.13E / 35 28.18N – 024 56.56E / 35 29.86N – 024 59.46E / 35 30.28N – 025 14.95E / 35 25.04N – 025 57.13E / 35 26.62N – 026 10.82E / 35 23.13N – 026 17.24E / 35 21.44N – 026 31.46E / 35 18.51N – 026 47.22E / 35 18.15N – 026 54.30E / 35 19.95N – 027 11.84E / 35 19.34N – 027 24.74E / 35 12.93N – 027 34.55E / 35 00.96N – 027 41.45E / 34 46.87N – 028 09.64E / 34 41.74N – 028 40.27E / 34 26.01N – 029 24.87E / 34 22.57N – 029 32.16E / 34 16.97N – 029 51.75E / 34 11.28N – 029 57.82E / 34 09.68N – 030 04.31E. WIDE BERTH REQUESTED 2NM. CANCEL THIS MSG ON 062200 UTC MAR 27. Official wording keeps the opening quote and missing close-quote on ABEILLE MARENGO. Industry coastal reprints and SeaLagom carry the same 21-point line, the same 2 NM berth and the same 062200 UTC 6 March 2027 kill. That is the product.
That is the working primary. Saturday afternoon’s product is a named-hull research track with a printed two-nautical-mile berth, not a rewrite of Saturday morning’s dedicated 1342/26 FORACS box off Drapano Point, not a reprint of Wednesday morning’s dedicated 1336/26 NG SURVEYOR 21-point South Aegean line, and not a second Central Mediterranean Britoil Centurion file. It names the seas. It names a research operation for underwater cable installation. It names ABEILLE MARENGO. It names 6 November 2026 to 6 March 2027. It names twenty-one points. It names a 2 NM wide berth. It names a cancel of 062200 UTC 6 March 2027. It does not name an IMO number. It does not name an MMSI, a flag, a call sign, a RAM line, a VHF working channel, a daily hour window, a fishing ban, or a port closure. Saturday morning’s dedicated 1342/26 remains CRETAN SEA. CRETE ISLAND. DRAPANO POINT. FORACS CHECKS, 9–13 November, 0600Z–1600Z each day, eight-point box, crossing prohibited. Wednesday morning’s dedicated 1336/26 remains NG SURVEYOR, 21-point South Aegean geophysical line from 5 November, wide berth requested, no printed end. Wednesday afternoon’s dedicated NAVAREA III 0169/26 remains Britoil Centurion, IMO 9619177 / MMSI 566921000, Central Mediterranean dotted line, 5 November 2026 to 15 February 2027. Those products sit on different geometries. Masters who brief Saturday afternoon as a FORACS extension onto a cable ship, as NG SURVEYOR renamed, as Centurion moved east, or as a closed Cretan Sea will have merged a four-month 2 NM track onto three other series.
What the warning actually printed
The hydrographic text is short and is the working primary. Irakleio Radio NAVWARN 1411/26. Issued 061413 UTC 6 November 2026. East Cretan Sea, southeast Cretan Sea, east Mediterranean Sea. Research operation for underwater cable installation will be conducted by ‘ABEILLE MARENGO’ from 6 November 2026 until 6 March 2027 in the line between the twenty-one points listed above. Wide berth requested, 2 NM. Cancel this message on 062200 UTC 6 March 2027. Stay with that wording. Irakleio printed a hull name. It printed a research-operation sentence. It printed an underwater-cable-installation purpose. It printed a four-month window. It printed twenty-one coordinates. It printed a numeric berth. It printed a cancel DTG. It did not print an IMO number. It did not print an MMSI, a flag, a call sign, a length, or a ship type. It did not print “laying,” “burial,” “trenching,” “ROV,” or a Great Sea Interconnector project name. It did not print restricted-in-ability-to-manoeuvre. It did not print a VHF channel. It did not print daily hours. It did not close Heraklion, Sitia, Kasos, Karpathos, Rhodes or Limassol. Do not invent a five-cable halo. 1411/26 prints two nautical miles. Do not invent a 15 February end date. That end belongs to dedicated 0169/26, not to this track. Do not invent a 13 November kill. That window belongs to dedicated 1342/26’s last FORACS day, not to this cable ship. Give the hull, the 21 points, the 2 NM berth, and 062200 UTC 6 March 2027.
The geometry is the first briefing fact. The line opens at 35-24.98 N 024-56.13 E, north of central Crete, and runs east and then southeast through 35-30.28 N 025-14.95 E, 35-18.15 N 026-54.30 E, 35-00.96 N 027-41.45 E and 34-41.74 N 028-40.27 E before finishing at 34-09.68 N 030-04.31 E. That is a compact coastal-to-offshore track on the order of 250 nautical miles of longitude, from the Cretan Sea face toward the eastern Mediterranean approaches west of Cyprus, not a closed box and not a South Aegean survey. Dedicated 1342/26’s Drapano eight-point box sits around 35-28 N 024-20 E, west of this line’s first points and inside a 9–13 November daytime FORACS window. Dedicated 1336/26’s NG SURVEYOR line sits between about 37-45 N 023-07 E and 37-14 N 025-40 E, two degrees north of this track. Dedicated 0169/26’s Britoil Centurion dotted line sits in the Central Mediterranean west of 010-55 E. 1411/26 is none of those. Plot the 21 points. Give 2 NM from the ship on that line. Do not treat the Cretan Sea, the Kasos Strait or the eastern Mediterranean as closed. Do not invent a corridor width beyond the printed 2 NM from the ship.
The clock is the second briefing fact. Irakleio prints from 6 November 2026 until 6 March 2027, cancel 062200 UTC 6 March 2027. The broadcast DTG is 061413 UTC 6 November. Those match a four-month research window that is already live this afternoon. A passage plan that treats the track as starting on 9 November because dedicated 1342/26 opens that morning has borrowed a FORACS clock. A passage plan that kills 1411/26 at 1600 UTC on 13 November because 1342/26’s last daily window ends then has under-read a March cancel. A passage plan that kills it at 092359 UTC 9 November because dedicated NAVAREA III 0168/26 weekly group 44 dies that evening has merged a weekly in-force list onto a cable track. Hold 6 November 2026 as the start. Hold 062200 UTC 6 March 2027 as the kill. Do not invent daily hours. 1411/26 does not print 0600Z–1600Z. Do not invent a 15 February 2027 kill from 0169/26.
The 2 NM berth is the third briefing fact. Wide berth requested, 2 NM. That is tighter than Wednesday morning’s dedicated 1336/26, which requested a wide berth and printed no number, and tighter than Saturday morning’s dedicated 1342/26, which prohibited crossing a box and printed no ship berth. It is not wrap 1343/26’s “avoid crossing” on a firing-exercise body. It is not dedicated 0169/26’s “wide receipt is requested.” Do not convert 2 NM from the ship into a 2 NM corridor around the entire 21-point polyline as a closed fishing ban. The notice requests 2 NM from the research operation. Do not invent RAM. Do not invent a VHF working channel. Do not invent a numeric harbour berth in Heraklion. Give two nautical miles from ABEILLE MARENGO on the printed line.
The missing IMO, flag, RAM and project-name lines are omissions, not a completed cable-laying order. NAVAREA III 0171/26 is listed this afternoon on the official coordinator board at navarea3.com as cable operations by Abeille Marengo, IMO 9388613, eastern Mediterranean, cancel 6 March 2027 22:00. That listing matches this hull, this sea and this kill clock. The English body of 0171/26 was not retrieved as a dedicated primary this run. Hold 0171/26 as wrap on 1411/26, unused as a second Abeille Marengo piece, and do not promote IMO 9388613 onto the Irakleio text. Official Cyprus Radio 345/26, unused as dedicated, is a different product: M/V “VB ABEILLE MARENGO”, MMSI 228505700, call sign FPEI, geological survey operations inside the Republic of Cyprus EEZ from 19 November 2026 until 19 March 2027, 2 NM from the ship, cancel 200001 UTC 20 March 2027, eighteen-point box opening near 34-10.7 N 030-05.0 E. That window starts thirteen days after 1411/26, ends fourteen days after 1411/26’s kill, and sits east of 1411/26’s last point. Do not collapse 345/26 onto 1411/26 as a completed Cyprus naming. Do not promote MMSI, call sign, VB prefix, or “geological survey” onto the Irakleio research-operation sentence. Industry colour that names the Great Sea Interconnector, Nexans or Next Geosolutions stays colour. 1411/26 printed none of those names.
What this is not, and the same-sea hydrographic colour
This is not a rewrite of NAVWARN 1342/26, and it is not a FORACS box converted into a cable ship. Saturday morning’s dedicated Hellenic piece remains: CRETAN SEA. CRETE ISLAND. DRAPANO POINT. Prohibition of crossing boats due to FORACS checks. From 9 until 13 November 2026. From 0600Z until 1600Z of each day, eight-point box around 35-28 N 024-20 E, crossing prohibited. That box sits west of 1411/26’s first points. 9–13 November is a five-day daytime check inside 1411/26’s four-month window. A master shaping north Crete next week may owe both: 1342/26’s prohibited box by day, and 1411/26’s 2 NM from ABEILLE MARENGO on the line. Do not brief Saturday afternoon as “1342 became a cable ship.” Do not drop 1342/26 because 1411/26 exists. Do not invent a 0600Z–1600Z overlay on 1411/26 because 1342/26 prints one.
This is not a rewrite of NAVWARN 1336/26, and it is not NG SURVEYOR renamed. Wednesday morning’s dedicated Hellenic piece remains: SOUTH AIGAIO SEA, geophysical survey by ‘NG SURVEYOR, 21-point line from 37-45.18 N 023-07.12 E to 37-14.38 N 025-40.47 E, from 5 November 2026, wide berth requested, no printed end. Official wording on that file also keeps an opening quote. 1411/26 is a different hull, a different sea tag, a different 21-point list, a printed 2 NM, and a printed March cancel. Do not brief Saturday afternoon as “NG SURVEYOR moved south.” Do not apply 1336/26’s missing end date to 1411/26. Do not apply 1411/26’s 2 NM to 1336/26.
This is not wrap 1343/26, and it is not a 8 November Fournoi firing filed again. Official HNHS 1343/2026 remains wrap: SAMOS SEA. FOURNOI ISLANDS. FIRING EXERCISES. FROM 080600Z TO 081500Z NOV 26, four corners around 37-32 N 026-30 E, avoid crossing. Irakleio Radio NAVWARN 1408/26 reprints that firing with cancel 081600 UTC 8 November. That box is about two degrees north of 1411/26’s middle points. 8 November is one day inside 1411/26’s window and one day before 1342/26 opens. A one-day Samos firing is not a four-month cable track. Do not collapse the firing onto ABEILLE MARENGO. Do not collapse the cable track onto Fournoi. Official HNHS 1345/2026 Tragonisi semisunk wreck, 1347/2026 Chalkida lightbuoy cut off and unlit, and 1350/2026 Nea Moudania light unlit remain wrap. Official HNHS 1338/2026 Maroneia NE mole-head red light 40 52 36N 025 30 26E UNLIT and 1339/2026 Vistonikos Bay Imeros Port east mole-head red light 40 56 00N 025 21 40E UNLIT remain unused as dedicated.
This is not a rewrite of NAVAREA III 0169/26, and it is not Britoil Centurion moved east. Wednesday afternoon’s dedicated NAVAREA III piece remains: CENTRAL MEDITERRANEAN SEA, oceanographic work on the BRITOIL CENTURION, IMO 9619177 / MMSI 566921000, 5 November 2026 to 15 February 2027, dotted-line groups A and B, wide receipt requested. Dedicated 0168/26 remains weekly group 44, in force 030600 UTC 3 November, cancel 092359 UTC 9 November, and does not print 0169 or 0171. 1411/26 does not print IMO 9619177. Do not brief Saturday afternoon as a second Centurion. Do not apply 0169/26’s 15 February kill to ABEILLE MARENGO. NAVAREA III 0171/26 remains wrap on this file: coordinator listing only this run, cable operations by Abeille Marengo, IMO 9388613, eastern Mediterranean, cancel 6 March 2027 22:00. Do not write 0171/26 as a second dedicated hull piece until the English body is retrieved. NAVAREA III 0170/26, listed on the same coordinator board as Abdulhamid Han platform, Black Sea, cancel 28 January 2027 20:55, remains unused as dedicated; it is not a 1411/26 amendment and it is not a rewrite of dedicated 0122/26.
This is not Cyprus Radio 345/26, and it is not a completed EEZ geological-survey naming. Official 345/26, broadcast 061800 UTC 6 November, M/V “VB ABEILLE MARENGO”, MMSI 228505700, call sign FPEI, geological survey operations within the Republic of Cyprus EEZ from 19 November 2026 until 19 March 2027, eighteen-point box, wide berth of 2 NM from the ship, cancel 200001 UTC 20 March 2027, remains unused as dedicated. The first Cyprus corner sits on the order of 34-10.7 N 030-05.0 E, next to 1411/26’s last point at 34-09.68 N 030-04.31 E, and the Cyprus window opens thirteen days later. Two products, one hull family. Do not collapse Saturday afternoon onto 345/26. Do not promote MMSI 228505700, FPEI, VB, or “geological survey” onto 1411/26. Do not invent a 19 November start on the Irakleio track. Do not invent a 20 March 2027 kill on 1411/26.
This is not Saturday morning’s dedicated ARN 168/26, not this afternoon’s dedicated NAVWARN 799/26, and not last night’s dedicated UKMTO 197-26. 168/26 remains F/V SEA ANGEL 1, 44-11.68 N 028-43.60 E. 799/26 is the other dedicated file on this 1130 UTC Saturday desk: Varna port and Varna road, 0500–0900 UTC 10 November and 0800–1200 UTC 13 November. 197-26 remains the tanker waterline explosion 16 NM east of Khasab. 432/26 remains the partially submerged container at 25-09.71N 054-54.06E, cancel 082359 UTC 8 November. IMO remains 129 confirmed / 25 dead as at 6 November. Those are Black Sea and Hormuz products. They do not belong on an eastern-Cretan cable track.
Operational implications
For a master running north of Crete, the Kasos and Karpathos face, or the eastern Mediterranean west of Cyprus, Saturday afternoon is a four-month 2 NM ship-berth problem on a named hull before it is a war-risk rewrite. Irakleio named ABEILLE MARENGO, named a research operation for underwater cable installation, named twenty-one points from 35-24.98 N 024-56.13 E to 34-09.68 N 030-04.31 E, named 2 NM, and named 062200 UTC 6 March 2027. A 2 NM berth under a research-operation sentence is a live keep-clear for ships that will cross that line, even when the Hydrographic Service has not printed RAM or daily hours. It is not AIS-optional. It is not a closed sea. It is not 1342/26’s prohibited FORACS box. A passage plan that only carried Saturday morning’s Drapano check, or that treated the eastern Cretan Sea as empty because 1336/26 sits two degrees north, has not budgeted a named cable-research hull from this afternoon through early March.
The 6 November–6 March tape is the operational content. 1411/26 occupies the 21-point line from the 061413 UTC 6 November broadcast through 062200 UTC 6 March 2027. Dedicated 1342/26 occupies the Drapano box 0600Z–1600Z each day from 9 to 13 November. Wrap 1343/26 occupies Fournoi 080600Z–081500Z on 8 November. Dedicated 1336/26 occupies the South Aegean NG SURVEYOR line from 5 November with no printed end. Dedicated 0169/26 occupies the Central Mediterranean Centurion tracks through 15 February 2027. Dedicated 0168/26 weekly group 44 dies at 092359 UTC 9 November and does not print 1411. A master who only plots one “Cretan Sea notice” for Saturday week has under-read a four-month cable track, a five-day FORACS box, and a one-day Samos firing. Charterers who still treat the eastern Mediterranean as a quiet alternative to Hormuz now have a named 2 NM research track across the Crete–Cyprus face, a still-open NG SURVEYOR line in the South Aegean, a still-open Centurion dotted line west of Sardinia and Sicily, a 8 November Fournoi firing still sitting as wrap, and a 9–13 November Drapano prohibition that will overlap the western end of this line by day. Deviation language that treats 1411/26 as a closed Cretan Sea has misread a 2 NM ship berth. War-risk underwriters will ask for the 1411/26 number, the 061413 UTC broadcast, the hull, the 21 points, the 2 NM sentence, the 062200 UTC 6 March 2027 cancel, the missing IMO on the Irakleio body, and a written statement that this notice is not 1342/26, not 1336/26, not 0169/26, not wrap 1343/26, and not unused 345/26.
The north-Crete overlap next week is the operational content a DPA has to get right. 1411/26 is already live. Dedicated 1342/26 opens at 0600Z on 9 November west of this line’s first points. Wrap 1343/26 fires at Fournoi on 8 November, two degrees north of the middle of this track. A master shaping 35-28 N 024-20 E by day on 9–13 November still owes 1342/26 a prohibited box. A master shaping 35-25 N 024-56 E still owes 1411/26 two nautical miles from ABEILLE MARENGO. Those can be the same morning. They are not the same product. Do not occupy 35-24.98 N 024-56.13 E as a waiting area for the FORACS window. Do not treat 2 NM as permission to cross the Drapano box.
A night transit on the 21-point line is not a printed all-clear. 1411/26 prints no daily hours. It does not print 0000–0600 UTC as a safe window, and it does not print RAM-off at sunset. Give the printed 2 NM. Do not linger on the line as if the notice had printed a working corridor. Do not treat Heraklion, Sitia or Limassol as closed unless those authorities say so. Watch a later Irakleio NAVWARN, a retrieved English 0171/26, or a later Cyprus 345 amendment that moves a point, adds IMO or RAM, or extends past 062200 UTC 6 March 2027.
Keep the dedicated files on their own lines. NAVWARN 1342/26 remains Saturday morning’s dedicated Drapano FORACS box through 13 November. NAVWARN 1336/26 remains Wednesday morning’s dedicated NG SURVEYOR South Aegean line. NAVAREA III 0169/26 remains Wednesday afternoon’s dedicated Britoil Centurion track through 15 February 2027. NAVAREA III 0168/26 remains weekly group 44 through 092359 UTC 9 November. Official HNHS 1343/26 remains wrap. Official HNHS 1338/26 and 1339/26 remain unused unlit lights. Official HNHS 1345/26, 1347/26 and 1350/26 remain wrap. NAVAREA III 0171/26 remains wrap on this file. Cyprus 345/26 remains unused as dedicated. This afternoon’s dedicated 799/26 remains the Varna port-and-road closure on 10 and 13 November. Dedicated 197-26 remains last night’s Khasab tanker waterline explosion. Dedicated 432/26 remains last night’s southern-Gulf container through 082359 UTC 8 November. IMO remains 129 confirmed / 25 dead as at 6 November. Do not recast 7 November afternoon as a FORACS rewrite, as NG SURVEYOR renamed, as a second Centurion, or as a closed eastern Mediterranean.
What Operators Should Note
- Log 1411/26 as a named-hull 2 NM cable-research track, not as a Drapano FORACS rewrite. Official Irakleio Radio NAVWARN 1411/26, ZCZC HA15 061413 UTC 6 November 2026. EAST CRETAN SEA, SOUTHEAST CRETAN SEA, EAST MEDITERRANEAN SEA. Research operation for underwater cable installation by ‘ABEILLE MARENGO’ from 6 November 2026 until 6 March 2027. Twenty-one points from 35-24.98 N 024-56.13 E to 34-09.68 N 030-04.31 E. Wide berth requested, 2 NM. Cancel 062200 UTC 6 March 2027. Official wording keeps the opening quote on ABEILLE MARENGO. The notice names neither IMO, MMSI, flag, call sign, RAM, VHF, daily hours, fishing ban nor a port closure. This is not 1342/26, not 1336/26, not 0169/26, not wrap 1343/26, and not unused 345/26.
- Hold the 21-point line and the 2 NM ship berth, not a closed sea. Working track opens north of central Crete at 35-24.98 N 024-56.13 E and finishes at 34-09.68 N 030-04.31 E, west of Cyprus. Dedicated 1342/26 remains the eight-point Drapano box around 35-28 N 024-20 E, 9–13 November, 0600Z–1600Z, crossing prohibited. Dedicated 1336/26 remains NG SURVEYOR, 37-45 N to 37-14 N. Do not invent a corridor width beyond 2 NM from the ship. Do not treat Heraklion, Sitia, Kasos, Karpathos, Rhodes or Limassol as closed. Do not convert 2 NM into wrap 1343/26’s avoid-crossing firing sentence.
- Hold 6 November 2026 through 062200 UTC 6 March 2027. The broadcast is already live. Do not delay the start to 9 November because 1342/26 opens then. Do not kill 1411/26 at 1600 UTC 13 November, at 092359 UTC 9 November, or at 15 February 2027. Those clocks belong to 1342/26, 0168/26 and 0169/26. Watch a later Irakleio NAVWARN that moves a point, adds IMO or RAM, or extends past 6 March 2027.
- Carry 0171/26 and 345/26 as wrap, not as 1411/26 facts. NAVAREA III 0171/26 is listed on the coordinator board as cable operations by Abeille Marengo, IMO 9388613, eastern Mediterranean, cancel 6 March 2027 22:00 — wrap this run, unused as a second dedicated hull piece; do not promote IMO 9388613 onto the Irakleio body. Official Cyprus 345/26, VB ABEILLE MARENGO, MMSI 228505700, call sign FPEI, geological survey in the Cyprus EEZ, 19 November 2026–19 March 2027, 2 NM from the ship, cancel 200001 UTC 20 March 2027, remains unused as dedicated. Do not promote MMSI, FPEI, VB, or “geological survey” onto 1411/26. Industry Great Sea Interconnector / Nexans colour stays colour.
- Carry the 8–13 November Cretan Sea overlap, then kill each notice on its own clock. 1411/26: 2 NM from ABEILLE MARENGO, already live through 6 March 2027. Wrap 1343/26: Fournoi firing, 080600Z–081500Z 8 November. Dedicated 1342/26: Drapano FORACS, 0600Z–1600Z 9–13 November. Do not merge the cable track onto the firing or onto the FORACS box. Do not drop 1342/26 because 1411/26 exists.
- Hold NG SURVEYOR, Centurion, Varna and the Hormuz tape on their own sheets. NAVWARN 1336/26 remains NG SURVEYOR. NAVAREA III 0169/26 remains Britoil Centurion through 15 February 2027. NAVAREA III 0168/26 remains weekly group 44 through 092359 UTC 9 November. This afternoon’s dedicated 799/26 remains the Varna port-and-road closure on 10 and 13 November. Official HNHS 1338/26 and 1339/26 remain unused unlit lights. Official HNHS 1345/26, 1347/26 and 1350/26 remain wrap. Dedicated 197-26 remains last night’s Khasab tanker waterline explosion. Dedicated 432/26 remains last night’s southern-Gulf container, cancel 082359 UTC 8 November. IMO remains 129 confirmed / 25 dead as at 6 November. NAVAREA III 0170/26 remains unused as dedicated. Sightings still go to the CSO; 1411/26 itself prints no VHF working channel.
Regulas Shipping will keep lining Saturday afternoon’s Irakleio 1411/26 ABEILLE MARENGO 2 NM cable-research track from 35-24.98 N, 024-56.13 E to 34-09.68 N, 030-04.31 E against Saturday morning’s dedicated 1342/26 Drapano FORACS box and against Wednesday morning’s dedicated 1336/26 NG SURVEYOR line so operators can treat the eastern Cretan Sea as a four-month named-hull keep-clear, not as a FORACS rewrite, a survey rename, or a closed Mediterranean.
