Showing no signs of backing off provocations despite a visit from Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan launched a new spy ship he said would be sent into the Aegean and Eastern Mediterranean to gather intelligence.

“I believe that the Ufuk corvette will fill a big hole in today's world where preventive intelligence, signal intelligence in particular, has gained vital importance. The Ufuk corvette will be Turkey's eyes and ears in the seas,” he said, according to a press release by the Turkish Presidency.

Erdogan had sent warships into Cyprus’ Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) in a bid to keep foreign energy companies from drilling for oil and gas and contested Greece’s Continental Shelf and claims to waters where there could potentially lucrative energy sources.

Cyprus licensed US oil giant ExxonMobil and partner Qatar Petroleum rights to explore for gas and oil in block 10 of Cyprus’ EEZ and a new report said there was a commercially viable find there.