A drillship that has been warm stacked for almost five years has finally been auctioned off in the UK to a Turkish buyer for a rock-bottom price.

The 61,600-gt Sertao (built 2012) was sold for just $37.5m at the auction, which was finalised on January 31.

TradeWinds has learned that the buyer is Turkish Petroleum, which is known to be pushing exploration drilling in waters off Cyprus, Libya and the eastern Mediterranean.