{"id":144256,"date":"2025-06-02T04:05:23","date_gmt":"2025-06-02T04:05:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/teknomers.com\/en\/osman-gazi-exploded-in-flames-and-was-sold-to-us\/"},"modified":"2025-06-02T04:05:24","modified_gmt":"2025-06-02T04:05:24","slug":"osman-gazi-exploded-in-flames-and-was-sold-to-us","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/teknomers.com\/en\/osman-gazi-exploded-in-flames-and-was-sold-to-us\/","title":{"rendered":"Osman Gazi exploded in flames and was sold to us."},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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On May 29, President \u00a0Recep Tayyip Erdo\u011fan\u00a0 bid farewell to Turkey’s first floating natural gas production platform, \u00a0Osman Gazi\u00a0, from the historic \u00a0Dolmabah\u00e7e Palace\u00a0 as it set sail for the \u00a0Black Sea\u00a0. This momentous occasion, marking the anniversary of the \u00a0Conquest of Istanbul\u00a0, was shadowed by questions surrounding the platform’s history and future. Originally built as a crude oil tanker in \u00a01994\u00a0, the vessel underwent extensive modifications in \u00a02008\u00a0 to transform it into a floating production and storage unit. <\/p>\n

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It passed through the Bosphorus and set sail for the Black Sea. Erdo\u011fan sent it off with a flourish.<\/em><\/p>\n <\/div>\n

CH\u00d6MEZ RAISES CONCERNS IN PARLIAMENT<\/strong><\/p>\n

The platform has a controversial history; it experienced a significant explosion in \u00a02015\u00a0, leading to repairs that reduced its length by \u00a023.5 meters\u00a0. Originally sold to an undisclosed buyer for \u00a0$125 million\u00a0, a staggering \u00a04.9 trillion lira\u00a0, Turkey later acquired it. \u00a0Turhan \u00c7\u00f6mez\u00a0, the Deputy Group Leader of the \u00a0Good Party\u00a0, brought this issue to the \u00a0Turkish Grand National Assembly\u00a0, questioning whether Turkey had “purchased a wreck.” He submitted a proposal requiring a response from \u00a0Energy Minister Alparslan Bayraktar\u00a0, prompting further scrutiny.<\/p>\n

NATURAL GAS LEAK ACCIDENT<\/strong><\/p>\n

“The vessel\u2019s inaugural destination was in the \u00a0Camamu-Almada\u00a0 and \u00a0Camarupim\u00a0 areas offshore \u00a0Brazil\u00a0. On \u00a0February 11, 2015\u00a0, it suffered a catastrophic explosion, which resulted in the deaths of \u00a0nine workers\u00a0 and injuries to \u00a026 others\u00a0. The explosion was caused by a natural gas leak in the aft pump room, prompting the vessel to be repaired in \u00a0Singapore\u00a0,” he stated.<\/p>\n

WHAT IS THE REAL COST?<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00c7\u00f6mez pressed Minister Bayraktar for clarity: “It has been expressed that the platform will commence operations in \u00a02026\u00a0. What are the reasons for the delays? What is the rationale behind acquiring a platform that has not been operational for ten years and sustained significant damage from an explosion? What is the financial cost to Turkey? The Norwegian and Singaporean firm \u00a0BW Offshore\u00a0 announced on the Oslo Stock Exchange that the platform was sold for \u00a0$125 million\u00a0. How much did Turkey actually pay for it?”<\/p>\n

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A 30-Year Transformation Story<\/span><\/h2>\n

The Osman Gazi was constructed in \u00a01994\u00a0 by \u00a0Samsung Heavy\u00a0 in \u00a0South Korea\u00a0 under the name \u00a0MV Almirante C\u00e2mara\u00a0 as a crude oil tanker. In \u00a02008\u00a0, it underwent retrofitting by \u00a0Saipem\u00a0 at the \u00a0Sembawang Shipyard\u00a0 in \u00a0Singapore\u00a0, modifying it to a floating production, storage, and offloading unit. The tragic explosion on \u00a0February 11, 2015\u00a0 resulted in major casualties and loss of life.<\/p>\n

Are Millions of Dollars Going Down the Drain for Rent-Seeking?<\/span><\/h2>\n

In an interview with \u00a0S\u00f6zc\u00fc\u00a0, \u00c7\u00f6mez expressed his concerns: “The vessel is over \u00a030 years old\u00a0. Originally built as a crude oil tanker, it was later modified for floating production storage. Have we really purchased an incapable wreck that suffered significant damages? This is a vessel that has been cut down by \u00a023.5 meters\u00a0. Inspections after the explosion revealed significant shortcomings. Why are we acquiring such a vessel?”<\/p>\n

He continued, “The platform comes with a \u00a0five-year\u00a0 maintenance guarantee for Turkey\u2014what happens after that? Who is responsible? What was the actual cost to Turkey? Did a similar firm purchase this wreck for a pittance and sell it to the \u00a0Ministry of Energy\u00a0, or will it be managed by a private company and extract large sums from the state? Are we wasting millions of dollars in the name of rent-seeking and political public relations?”<\/p>\n <\/div>\r\n
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General News – 1<\/a>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

On May 29, President \u00a0Recep Tayyip Erdo\u011fan\u00a0 bid farewell to Turkey’s first floating natural gas production platform, \u00a0Osman Gazi\u00a0, from the historic \u00a0Dolmabah\u00e7e Palace\u00a0 as it set sail for the \u00a0Black Sea\u00a0. This momentous occasion, marking the anniversary of the \u00a0Conquest of Istanbul\u00a0, was shadowed by questions surrounding the platform’s history and future. Originally built […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":144257,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-144256","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-general"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/teknomers.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/144256","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/teknomers.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/teknomers.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/teknomers.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/teknomers.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=144256"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/teknomers.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/144256\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/teknomers.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/144257"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/teknomers.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=144256"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/teknomers.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=144256"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/teknomers.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=144256"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}