Türkiye's first drillship, Fatih, set sail from Istanbul for a drilling mission in the Black Sea.
Along with other boats that pass through the Bosphorus, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan also greeted Fatih on May 29, the 567th anniversary of the conquest of Istanbul.
Speaking at the send-off ceremony, Energy and Natural Resources Minister Fatih Dönmez announced that the ship will start its first sounding in the Black Sea on July 15 at the Tuna-1 location.
The 229-meter-long (751-foot) vessel, which weighs 5,283 gross tons, is capable of drilling to a maximum depth of 40,000 feet.