Istanbul, Turkey(Mogadishu24)-In a significant step for Turkey-Somalia relations, the Turkish seismic research vessel Oruc Reis set sail from Istanbul today, heading for Mogadishu to conduct 3D seismic surveys in offshore Somali waters.

Somali Minister of Petroleum and Natural Resources, Abdirizak Omar Mohamed, who attended the farewell ceremony alongside Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Minister of Energy and Natural Resources Alparslan Bayraktar, hailed the occasion as monumental for both nations.

The Oruc Reis will arrive off Somalia’s coast in late October to explore three licensed zones for oil and natural gas. The vessel, launched in 2017 and fully designed and built by Turkish engineers, is equipped for extensive geophysical, geological, oceanographic, and hydrographic research.

With a length of 87 meters and a width of 23 meters, it stands 34 meters high and is powered by diesel-electric engines, enabling both 2D and 3D seismic surveys.

Earlier agreements between Türkiye and Somalia, involving memorandums of understanding and exploration licenses, paved the way for this mission.

Turkish Petroleum, Türkiye’s national oil company, secured licenses for three offshore areas, each covering approximately 5,000 square kilometers. The surveys by Oruc Reis will be crucial in assessing Somalia’s potential oil and gas reserves as part of their growing energy collaboration.