Turkey will on Friday dispatch a drillship to waters off its southern coast, but outside Cyprus’ Exclusive Economic Zone.

Turkish authorities have issued a Naxtex – or marine advisory – reserving for the drillship Abdulhamid Han an area for exploration off the Gulf of Antalya.

The Navtex will run from December 2 to January 23, 2023.

The area reserved for operations lies outside Cyprus’ economic waters.

The Abdulhamid Han is a seventh-generation ultra-deepwater drillship owned and operated by the Turkish Petroleum Corporation.

The fourth of Turkey’s drillships, it can operate in rough sea conditions and drill into high-pressure gas reservoirs. According to information online, it can drill to a total depth of 12,200m in a maximum water depth of 3,657.5m, which is further than the Mariana Trench, the deepest place on earth.