Abdülhamid Han drillship to sail in Med Sea soon: Official

Neşe Karanfil - ANKARA

Türkiye’s fourth drillship, Abdülhamid Han, will be ready to serve on the Mediterranean Sea soon, an official has said.

“We have planned step by step, where and what we will do week by week, and we are doing the necessities of that plan,” said Melih Han Bilgin, Türkiye’s state-owned energy company TPAO’s head, speaking at the 12th Türkiye Energy Summit.

Noting that the Abdülhamid Han is anchored off Taşucu in the southern province of Mersin for maintenance works, Bilgin said, “The preparations are about to be completed. It will be anchored again in the coming days.”

The search in the Mediterranean is being carried out with a new concept, Bilgin also stressed.

“Salt exploration is being conducted and deeper targets would be sought for sub-salt structures,” he said, pointing to the studies carried out above and below the salt deposition known to have formed five million years ago in the Mediterranean.

Experts say that there may be gas between these salt layers, which can be found under the sea floor.

The seventh-generation ship has a tower height of 112 meters and is 239 meters long and 42 meters wide, with a maximum drilling depth of 12,200 meters. It can accommodate up to 200 crew.

Abdülhamid Han is one of the five drill ships in the world equipped with new generation advanced technology, according to officials.

Türkiye uses drill ships in its hydrocarbon exploration activities in the Black Sea and the Mediterranean.

Stating that an energy base was built in the Black Sea, 170 kilometers off the land and 2,200 meters below the sea, Bilgin said, “We have supplied products from more than 20 countries. We lower our submarine equipment to the bottom of the sea with underwater robots. Things are going as planned. In 2023, we will transfer our domestic gas to the national system.”

Furthermore, for searches on land, the highest number of drillings in Türkiye’s history has been reached, Bilgin said. “This year, we drilled 150 wells, 55 of which are production wells. Our goal is to open 207 wells in 2023, 73 of which will be production wells.”