A party of Lebanese and French officials visits a maritime research vessel in Beirut after it completed environmental scanning operations in Block 9 ahead of future offshore gas exploration activities. Under a US-brokered accord, Lebanon and Israel, which are officially still at war, delimited their maritime borders in October last year. The agreement paved the way for Lebanon to begin exploration in the Qana reservoir -- which is partly located inside Israel's territorial waters -- in return for compensation payments. IMAGES AND SOUNDBITES