Greece 'uneasy' with Türkiye's new drill ship in Eastern Mediterranean

By Diyar Guldogan

ANKARA (AA) - Greece was "uneasy" after Türkiye sent its new drill ship to the Eastern Mediterranean for hydrocarbon exploration, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Thursday.

"Greece was very uneasy," Erdogan said in the capital Ankara at a mass opening ceremony of 34 hydroelectric power plants.

He added that Türkiye is strong with its four drilling ships and two seismic research vessels.

As part of Türkiye's strategy for hydrocarbon exploration, the fourth drill ship, Abdulhamid Han, has recently arrived at its first destination, the Yorukler-1 well offshore in the southern province of Antalya.

The ship, dubbed the strongest of the country’s current fleet of four, will drill exploration wells in the Eastern Mediterranean while other ships, Yavuz and Kanuni, will continue drilling operations in the Black Sea.

Erdogan also said: "... from the moment we extract the natural gas, you will see how the weather changes in the whole region."

The new addition to the fleet is a seventh-generation vessel and one of five worldwide with the capability of drilling to depths of up to 12,200 meters (40,026 feet).