Turkey Buys Third Drill Ship

Turkish upstream operator TPAO has bought a third deep-water drill ship, adding to the two it already operates in the eastern Mediterranean, within the exclusive economic zone claimed by Cyprus. 

Turkish maritime news magazine and portal Denizcilik Dergisi reported that TPAO had paid $37.5mn for the 61,000 metric ton Sertao, in an auction held at the end of January. Launched in 2012 and flagged in the Marshall Islands, the Sertao is reported to have previously belonged to Brazilian state oil company Petrobras, which has extensive deepwater acreage of its own. 

According to Denizcilik Dergisi the vessel can operate in waters up to 11,400 metres deep and drill to a depth of 3,000 m.
Marine tracking portal marinetraffic.com shows the vessel anchored at Port Talbot in South Wales. 

Turkish officials were unavailable February 10 to confirm the purchase, or where the vessel is expected to be used. However in January the Turkish president Tayyip Erdogan said TPAO would purchase a third drill ship and it would sent to drill inside Cyprus EEZ. 

TPAO operates Fatih and Yavuz that were both purchased or leased in the past four years and renamed, They are active inside Cyprus' claimed EEZ, which Ankara also claims, alleging that part of it is an extension of Turkey's continental shelf, and another part belongs to the internationally unrecognised Turkish Republic of North Cyprus (TRNC) which it claims has granted exploration rights to TPAO.  Neither claim is recognised by the international community.