Kanuni vessel leaves southern Mersin bound for Black Sea

ANKARA-Anadolu Agency

Turkey's third drilling ship, Kanuni, set sail from the country’s southern Mersin province for a drilling mission in the Black Sea.

Included into Turkey's fleet this year, Kanuni arrived in Mersin’s Taşucu district on March 15 for renewal and upgrade studies.

The vessel is now scheduled to arrive at Istanbul’s Haydarpaşa Port before setting sail for operations in the Black Sea.

On Sept. 30, Energy Minister Fatih Dönmez explained that tower disassembly works will be conducted for Kanuni to pass under the three bridges in the Bosphorus.

“We hope first operations to start in the first months of next year and with that, Kanuni will be working together with Fatih drillship in the Black Sea,” Dönmez said.

The drilling ship, with the ability to extend down to depths of 11,400 meters and drill to depths of 3,000 meters, was built by Samsung in South Korea in 2012.

Brazilian energy company Petrobras used it for explorations up to 2015.