Turkey dispatches deep-sea drillship to Somalia in first overseas offshore mission
The seventh-generation drillship departed from Taşucu Port in the southern province of Mersin during a ceremony attended by Energy and Natural Resources Minister Alparslan Bayraktar and Somali officials.
Mogadishu (Somali Report) - Türkiye on Sunday dispatched its newest deep-drilling vessel, Çağrı Bey, to Somalia in what Ankara describes as a historic step in expanding its overseas energy exploration.
The seventh-generation drillship departed from Taşucu Port in the southern province of Mersin during a ceremony attended by Energy and Natural Resources Minister Alparslan Bayraktar and Somali officials. The deployment marks the first time a Turkish drilling ship will operate outside Türkiye’s territorial waters.
“A long way is awaiting Çağrı Bey,” Bayraktar said at the ceremony, noting that the vessel will avoid the Suez Canal and instead sail through the Atlantic Ocean, along the western coast of Africa, before heading toward Mogadishu Port. The journey is expected to take approximately 45 days.
The ship becomes the second Turkish vessel assigned to Somali waters after the seismic research ship Oruç Reis, which was sent from Istanbul in October 2024 and completed its mission last summer.
Ankara and Mogadishu have deepened cooperation in recent years across energy, defense, infrastructure and economic development. Multiple memoranda of understanding have been signed as Türkiye positions itself as one of Somalia’s closest international partners.
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The decision to deploy Çağrı Bey comes amid Türkiye’s broader strategy to boost oil and gas exploration both domestically and abroad. Speaking a day earlier in Ankara, Bayraktar described the mission as “another historic step,” signaling that 2026 would be “a year of discoveries and good news.”
He reiterated President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s vision of achieving full energy independence for Türkiye. “If Türkiye becomes energy independent, it will be much stronger economically and will have a far stronger treasury,” Bayraktar said.
Domestically, Ankara is intensifying exploration in the Black Sea, where natural gas production is expected to double this year. The government plans new drilling operations off the coasts of Rize, Giresun, Ordu, Samsun and Kastamonu in search of additional reserves.
Bayraktar also highlighted progress at the Akkuyu Nuclear Power Plant, Türkiye’s first nuclear facility currently under construction in Mersin. He said the government aims to begin generating electricity from the plant’s first reactor within the year, with all four reactors eventually supplying up to 10% of the country’s electricity demand.
For Somalia, the arrival of Çağrı Bey signals a new phase in offshore energy exploration that could reshape the country’s economic future. For Türkiye, it underscores Ankara’s ambition to project its energy capabilities beyond its borders — and to secure new partnerships along the way.
The voyage now begins, carrying with it both geopolitical weight and high economic expectations.
About the Author
Osman Hassan is a Senior Editor at the Somali Report based in Nairobi with over 15 years of experience in journalism. He has worked with local and international media outlets in Somalia and is an award-winning journalist. His reporting focuses on politics, security, and regional affairs in the Horn of Africa.