A Turkish drillship docked in Mogadishu on Friday ahead of Somalia’s first offshore oil drilling project, marking both the East African country’s first attempt to drill for oil at sea and Turkey’s first deep-sea drilling operation outside its own waters.
The vessel, the Çağrı Bey, arrived in Somali waters on Thursday and entered the port of Mogadishu on Friday, according to Somali and Turkish officials.
A hydrocarbons agreement signed in 2024 gave Turkey’s state-run energy company rights to explore three offshore blocks, each spanning about 5,000 square kilometers, (1,900 square miles), off Somalia’s coast.
Another Turkish vessel carried out seismic surveys in the three blocks in late 2024 to identify possible drilling locations before the current phase.
Somalia’s state news agency said the ship would carry out the country’s first offshore drilling operation, while Turkish Energy Minister Alparslan Bayraktar said on X that the mission would also be Turkey’s first overseas deep-sea drilling venture.
“It docked this morning,” port worker Abshir Yare told Agence France-Presse. “The ship is very big. We have never seen anything like this at the port before.”
Bayraktar was expected to attend a ceremony at the Mogadishu port on Friday along with Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, according to the Somali state news agency.
Turkey has become one of Somalia’s main security and economic partners in recent years. Ankara opened its largest overseas military base in Mogadishu in 2017 and has expanded its presence in the Horn of Africa nation through defense, infrastructure and energy agreements.
© Agence France-Presse