By: Reuters

Turkey's deep-sea drilling vessel Cagri Bey arrived off the coast of Mogadishu on Friday (April 10) to launch the country's first overseas deep-sea oil exploration project.

Turkey's Energy Minister Alparslan Bayraktar said the project marked "a new era in Turkish petroleum exploration."

The planned well will reach a depth of 7,500 metres, making it one of the deepest offshore drilling operations in the world, he said at a reception ceremony.

"Today is a historic day for Somalia to welcome the Turkish ship to drill the oil. It is also a new hope and positive step to make use of the fuel," Somalia's Mineral Resources Minister Dahir Shire Mohamed said.

The drillship's operations are expected to last around 10 months.