AI MSS was entrusted to secure archaeological/heritage permitting and project consensus from the relevant national custodian heritage agency, namely the Department of Antiquities of Cyprus (DoA), through ensuring that the proposed cable rote of the Blue Subsea Cable (BSC), will not affect any “known and unknown archaeological sites” in the area.

To fulfill this mandate, AI MSS undertook a comprehensive Geophysical Archaeological Impact Assessment (GAIA), covering the entire proposed route, from the designated proposed landing point in Cyprus to the outer boundaries of the country’s Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ), through implementing a dual-method approach:

• Archaeological dive surveys were conducted in the shallow nearshore waters, and
• Geophysical data analysis of the deeper offshore sections of the route.

The assessment was consolidated into an overarching report, composed of five specialised sub-reports, each of which received archaeological permitting without further comments from the DoA, demonstrating the quality and thoroughness of our methodology.