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The project will redefine the port of Alexandroupolis “as a critical hub for the energy security of the entire central and southeast Europe,” said Kostis Sifnaios, managing director of Gastrade, the consortium that will operate the plant.

Greenpeace and the World Wide Fund for Nature led the request at Greece’s highest administrative court, the Council of State, against a planned offshore natural gas storage and conversion plant, outside the northeastern port of Alexandroupolis.

The terminal, due to go online early next year, will operate on a modified tanker — also named the “Alexandroupolis” — to store liquefied natural gas and convert it into gas form, supplying the national distribution network.

On Friday, a court in the northeastern city of Alexandroupolis ordered the three to be jailed pending trial, said Nikos Karavellakis, a lawyer representing the eight Syrians who had been sequestered in the trailer.

The reinforcements sent Thursday to the Alexandroupolis and Evros region brought the total number of firefighters deployed there to 582, backed by 10 planes and seven helicopters from nine European countries, Greece’s fire department said.