FATIH (IMO: 9503770, MMSI: 271046008) is the sixth generation ultra deep sea drilling vessel built in 2011 and currently owned and operated by Turkish Petroleum Corporation.
In order to meet the oil and natural gas needs of our country with the Fatih Drilling Ship and other drilling ships, exploration activities in the depths of the seas continue at full speed.
Drilling vessels are used to drill new oil and gas wells offshore. They perform these works with deep water and ultra deep water applications. In our country, there are 4 drilling ships with advanced features.
Fatih, the first operational drilling ship of our country, took its name from Fatih Sultan Mehmet, one of the most important sultans of our history. Having the 6th generation level, Fatih drilling ship has taken very important steps in terms of energy resources reserves in our country with the features it offers. It carries out its work with more than 200 personnel and actively carries out offshore drilling.
In the first time it was produced, it showed a performance beyond its technology. Even before the technological developments on the ship, it made a name for itself with its success. Later, with the development of drilling equipment and well control systems, dynamic positioning systems, various components made in thrusters and generators, it rose to a certain level of success among other ships.
The First Domestic Drilling Ship of Our Country: Technical Specifications of Fatih Drill Ship
The Fatih drill ship, produced with the most advanced technologies, has the 6th generation level. This level, which is found in high quality ships, offers the possibility of ultra-deep sea drilling.
Fatih drilling ship is among the 5 ships with the best features among 16 ships with the same characteristics. Thus, the Fatih ship is in an important position for our country. One of its remarkable features is that it drills deeper than the Mariana trench, which is known as the deepest trench in the world. It carries out offshore drilling with high pressure in an area with a depth of 12 thousand 120 meters. It has the feature of an ultra-deep sea drill ship.
The length of this ship is 229 meters. Having a weight of 51 thousand 283 gross tons, Fatih also has a width of 36 meters. There are two drilling rigs on the ship. These towers are 64 meters high. In addition, drilling rigs can lift loads up to 1750 tons.
The capacity of the ship is 34 thousand 256 delegations. In addition to all these technical features, the maximum speed of the Fatih drilling ship is stated as 15.9 kilometers per hour and 13.3 kilometers per hour in service.
Fatih drill ship has an active positioning system. Thanks to this system, it can stay stable even in giant waves that can reach up to 6 meters. In other words, it has the ability to continue drilling works at high wavelengths without any problems.
History of Fatih Drill Ship
Turkey was dependent on foreign sources in terms of energy resources. In order to close this gap and to find new energy sources, a domestic drilling ship started to operate in the blue waters. At this point, Turkey's first domestic drilling vessel, Fatih, was purchased by the Turkish Petroleum Corporation in 2017 and put into Mediterranean waters for the first time in 2018.
How much is the Fatih drill ship?
The ship was built by Hyundai Heavy Industries in the Ulsan region of South Korea in 2011. Exactly, 860 million dollars was spent on its production. It was launched in the same year. It was sold to Chalfont Shipping in 2016 for $210 million.
This ship, which was called Deepsea Metro II at first, belonged to Chole Mardin. Until 2018, it was operated by Odfjell Drilling in Norway with the Marshall Islands flag. Afterwards, it was purchased by TPAO from Odfjell Drilling in 2017 and brought to Kocaeli on January 1, 2018.
Deepsea Metro I, the sister of the deep-sea drilling ship Deepsea Metro II, which was purchased by Turkish Petroleum for 154 million dollars and renamed as Fatih, was sold for 262.5 million dollars. Drilling vessel included in TPAO inventory is very valuable for our country and is our first domestic drilling vessel. In May 2018, the name of the ship was changed and it became Fatih.
Thanks to its features, it was easily distinguished from the ships in its category and ranked among the best and high-tech ships in the world. At the same time, the ship was produced with a high-end technology called 6th generation technology. The ship, which draws attention with its majesty and length, is almost as long as the Eiffel tower.
Fatih drilling ship carried out its first drilling in the well named Alanya -1. Later, he continued his work in the Finike-1 well.
On the 567th anniversary of the conquest of Istanbul, which is important for our history, the ship sailed from Haydarpaşa port to the Black Sea to carry out the first national drilling work. The drilling rigs on the Fatih drilling ship were dismantled in order to pass through the Bosphorus and were taken to the Trabzon port for reassembly.
The ship, which gained a reputation with its work in the Sakarya gas field and achieved a serious success, continues its search for new reserves. In addition, according to the data announced by the presidency in the Amasra-1 well of the Fatih drilling ship, 135 billion cubic meters of natural gas was discovered. The ship contributes to the observance of every inch of the blue homeland and operates actively with other drilling vessels.
Where Is Fatih Drilling Ship Now?
With the discovery of Turkey's largest natural gas discovery, one wonders where the Fatih drilling ship, which made this discovery, is now. The Fatih drilling ship discovered 320 cubic meters of natural gas reserves in the Tuna-1 well, thanks to the discoveries it started on July 20, 2022. This discovery was expressed as the biggest natural gas discovery of the Republic of Turkey. All natural gas works have been completed in the area, which was previously called Danube-1 and is now called Sakarya gas field.
Fatih drilling ship still continues its drilling works in and around the Black Sea. It carries out an active work in the region. The natural gas reserve extracted in 2020 is of very high quality, and the natural gas found will allow great profits in the future.
In addition to the wells drilled as part of the Sakarya gas field project, the ship continued its work in the Türkali-6 well. Following the completion of the preparations for the drilling works in the region, he actively carried out the works in the Türkali-7 well, which is one of the other wells.
The Minister's statements are that with the arrangement of the distribution line to the seabed, drilling operations will increase rapidly within the scope of the quarter to 2022. The statement made regarding the Fatih drilling ship is that another well will be drilled for exploratory purposes and the drilling operations will continue rapidly.
According to the statement made by the Turkish Petroleum Corporation, the Fatih ship is currently working on the Gökçebey-1 well. Drilling works continue without slowing down in Gökçebey, a new exploration well in the Black Sea. To date, the Fatih drilling ship has discovered a total of 540 billion cubic meters of natural gas. In addition, together with the Fatih ship, the other drilling ships Yavuz, Kanuni and Abdülhamid in Turkey continue their hydrocarbon exploration activities in the depths of the seas.
As of 26.12.2022, Fatih Drilling Ship is commemorated with a new discovery in Çaycuma-1 well. It has been announced that there is a natural gas reserve of 58 billion cubic meters from the drilling of Çaycuma 1 well, which is known to be located off the coast of Çaycuma district in Zonguldak.
4 drilling vessels, which are very important for our country, act in accordance with the national energy policy. Drilling ships, which are effective in revealing the existing hydrocarbon potential, carry out reserve studies in the wells dug every day.
The general purpose of the Fatih drilling ship is to conduct hydrocarbon research in blue waters in order to minimize the hydrocarbon energy need of the country and to improve the foreign-dependent situation of the country. To date, it has carried out many successful activities in line with its purpose, and at the same time, Fatih drilling ship is still carrying out exploration studies in order to increase its energy potential.
What are the features of Turkey's first national drilling ship "Fatih"?
Fatih, which was launched in South Korea in 2011, has a high technology called the 6th generation.
In the process of being "refitted", Fatih, whose details from drilling equipment, well control systems, dynamic positioning controls, ship thrusters and auxiliary generators were overhauled and renewed, distinguished itself among the 16 ships in its class and became one of the world's top 5 ships with such high technology.
Known as the deepest pit in the world with a depth of 12,200 meters and known as the Marina Pit, Fatih, which has the ability to conduct deep sea drilling even under very high pressure conditions, is almost as tall as the Eiffel Tower.
The length of Fatih's 64-meter-high drilling rig is close to the 67-meter-tall Galata Tower. Fatih's two towers have a total lifting capacity of 1750 tons.
Thanks to its active positioning system, Fatih has the ability to remain stable even in rough sea conditions with a length of 6 meters, and with these high-level technological features, it is a ship whose success has been proven by successfully completing all its missions in the most challenging conditions.
Updated 08.05.2023: Fatih Drilling Ship has started drilling in the newly discovered Amasra-3 well in Sakarya Gas Field.
According to the update announced by Turkish Petroleum Corporation (TPAO), Fatih Drilling Ship has started drilling in Amasra-3, the new detection well located in Sakarya Gas Basin.