Turkey’s three drilling vessels will soon join hands and operate simultaneously in the Black Sea to expedite works to start using the natural gas discovered in the Black Sea.

The Yavuz drilling ship is due to commence operations in March, Anadolu Agency (AA) reported on Thursday, joining Fatih and Kanuni, which have been carrying out works in the Sakarya gas field, located some 150 kilometers (93 miles) off the coast of Turkey in the Black Sea.

The field is home to the country’s largest-ever natural gas discovery. Fatih found 540 billion cubic meters (bcm) of gas there since August 2020.

Ankara aims to start pumping the gas to the national grid in 2023, the centennial of the founding of modern Turkey, with sustained plateau production starting in 2027-2028.

Yavuz will join Kanuni in running completion works at wells drilled by Fatih, according to AA. Kanuni is said to be responsible for the lower-level borehole completion process, while Yavuz will be tasked with the higher-level process that includes placing wellhead equipment and other systems.

Fatih is currently performing drilling works at Türkali-7 well, after which it will sail for a new exploratory location east of the gas field. Kanuni is at the moment running a deep-sea well test at the Türkali-1 borehole.

Turkey recently added a fourth drilling ship to its inventory. The vessel is due to arrive soon and is expected to start its exploration activities this summer.

The country earlier this month started delivering the pipes that will be used for the pipeline beneath the Black Sea to bring the gas onshore.

Scheduled to be constructed this year, the pipeline that will stretch around 170 kilometers will connect the wells in the region to the main grid.

Turkey is expected to kick start the deepwater pipe laying once all the tubes have been brought to the Port of Filyos in the northern Black Sea province of Zonguldak. The process is expected to take about five months.