Turkish drillship to begin hydrocarbon exploration in Mediterranean

By Murat Temizer

ANKARA (AA) - Türkiye's Abdulhamid Han drillship will set off from the port city of Mersin to begin hydrocarbon exploration in the Mediterranean Sea, the country's energy minister said Tuesday.

"We will send this ship off to its first mission from Mersin on Aug. 9," Fatih Donmez said in a televised interview.

Earlier this month, Donmez paid a visit to Mersin where the vessel is docked, saying that the ship is one of the five seventh-generation ships in the world.

It will join a fleet of three ships for hydrocarbon exploration.

The country has been undertaking drilling activities in its waters over the past four years.

Abdulhamid Han is Türkiye's fourth drilling ship, named after one of the sultans of the Ottoman Empire.

The vessel is 238 meters (780 feet) long and 42 m (137 ft) wide and weighs 68,000 gross tons with a maximum drilling depth of 12,200 m (40,026 ft). It has a tower height of 104 m (341 ft) and a crew capacity of 200.