Editing by: HAPC's Monitoring Unit ,
Publication Date: April 7,2026,
The Turkish ship ‘Chagri Bek’ arrived on the shores of Somalia on Monday morning, equipped with equipment, to begin oil exploration and drilling operations, having traveled a long way across the Mediterranean Sea, passing through the Atlantic Ocean along the coasts of West Africa, and bypassing Ras Saleh. Reaching Somalia.
The ship made this long journey under duress, as it was unable to cross through the Suez Canal due to the height of the drilling tower, in addition to the size of the ship, which is 228 meters long, 42 meters wide, and 114 meters high, while its drilling capacity is estimated at a depth of 12 meters, according to the Somali News Agency.
A map showing the route of the Chagri Bek ship
The Somali News Agency reported that the ship sailed out of Turkey for the first time in search of oil in Somalia, as a result of agreements signed two years ago between Turkey and Somalia for Somali oil exploration.
It is worth mentioning that the Turkish Petroleum Corporation (TPAO) , which is state-owned, contracted with Somalia in 2021, and in July 2024 negotiations began on oil exploration and extraction, with promises made to the Somali government to start oil extraction in the middle of 2025.
The ship’s arrival sparked widespread controversy on social media, with some suggesting that the Turkish company, like its predecessors—companies that have been conducting exploration since the 1950s without any tangible results, most notably Coastline— appears to be just another example of a company that has failed to deliver on its promises. The American Exploration Company , while some expressed praise, considering the arrival of the ship the most important shift towards extracting Somali oil.
The Somali government had signed an agreement with TPAO to carry out exploration and production operations in Somali territorial waters, and also signed an agreement with Coastline. Exploration for oil extraction in 7 other offshore blocks.
Historically , oil exploration operations and attempts in Somalia date back to the 1950s, but frequent conflicts and instability, the latest of which was the outbreak of civil war in 1991, have become an easy excuse for all the contracting companies in succession.
Somalia is the third country in Africa with the largest oil reserves after Libya and Nigeria, but to this day it has not benefited from a single liter of its enormous oil reserves.
