Türkiye’s drillship Fatih begins operations in Black Sea

Türkiye’s drillship Fatih has started operations at its new location at the Goktepe-2 well in the Sakarya Gas Field in the Black Sea, Turkish Energy and Natural Resources Minister Alparslan Bayraktar confirmed via X Thursday.

Türkiye is simultaneously ramping up production and exploring new fields, Bayraktar said.

The Fatih drillship boasts a length of 229 meters and a width of 36 meters. Its gross tonnage weighs in at 51,283.

Fatih is the country’s first drillship and joined the fleet of the Turkish Petroleum Corporation (TPAO) in 2017. The ship conducted its first drilling expedition in the Black Sea on July 20, 2020.

August 21 marked its first success story following a month of work at the Tuna-1 location off the coast of Zonguldak in the Black Sea region.

Türkiye has several ships for exploration and drilling activities in its territorial waters. drillships Fatih, Yavuz, Kanuni and Abdulhamid Han, along with seismic exploration vessels Barbaros Hayrettin Pasa and MTA Oruc Reis, are active in the country’s oil and gas exploration projects.

Fatih Drillship

The state-owned Turkish Petroleum Corporation (TPAO) owns and operates “Fatih,” formerly known as Deepsea Metro II, a sixth-generation ultra-deep-sea drilling vessel. It is Türkiye’s first operational drilling ship.

Since June 2020, “Fatih” has been conducting drilling operations in the Black Sea. On July 20, 2020, it commenced drilling at the Tuna-1 well near the Neptune field, located at the intersection of Türkiye, Bulgaria and Romania’s territorial waters, where Romania discovered natural gas in 2012.

On August 21, 2020, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced that “Fatih” discovered 320 billion cubic meters of natural gas at a depth of 2,100 meters in the Tuna-1 field, marking the largest natural gas discovery in the history of the Republic of Türkiye.

Additionally, on June 4, 2021, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced the discovery of 135 billion cubic meters of natural gas at the Amasra-1 well.

Fatih, classified as a 6th-generation vessel with advanced technology, ranks among the top 5 ships globally in its class of 16 ships. With the capability to conduct deep-sea drilling at a depth of 12,120 meters (40,000 feet) under extremely high pressure, surpassing even the Mariana Trench, “Fatih” possesses the characteristics of an ultra-deep-sea drilling vessel.

The ship measures 229 meters (751.9 feet) in length, 36 meters (118 feet) in width, and weighs 51,283 gross tons. Its two towers, standing at 64 meters high, have a lifting capacity of 1,750 tons each.

With a deadweight capacity of 34,256 tons, the ship can reach a maximum speed of 8.6 knots (15.9 kilometers/hour) and operates at 7.2 knots (13.3 kilometers/hour).

Thanks to its active positioning system, it can maintain stability even in waves up to 6 meters high, allowing continuous operations.