The MV ''Karadeniz Powership Doğan Bey'' is a

Liberia Liberia, officially the Republic of Liberia, is a country on the West African coast. It is bordered by Sierra Leone to Liberia–Sierra Leone border, its northwest, Guinea to Guinea–Liberia border, its north, Ivory Coast to Ivory Coast–Lib ...

-flagged

Powership A powership (or power ship) is a special purpose ship, on which a power plant is installed to serve as a power generation resource. Converted from existing ships, powerships are self-propelled, ready to go infrastructure for developing country, d ...

, a floating power plant, owned and operated by

Karpowership Karpowership is a Turkish builder, operator, and owner of a fleet of powerships. Since 2010, 36 powerships have been completed with their total installed capacity exceeding 6,000 MW and further capacity under construction (or scheduled). Karpow ...

. Built 1983 by

Mitsui is a Japanese corporate group and '' keiretsu'' that traces its roots to the ''zaibatsu'' groups that were dissolved after World War II. Unlike the ''zaibatsu'' of the pre-war period, there is no controlling company with regulatory power. Ins ...

Co. in

Ichihara, Chiba is a Cities of Japan, city, located in Chiba Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 274,117 in 128,316 households and a population density of 240 persons per km2. The total area of the city is . The city is home, together w ...

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

and christened MV ''Sono'', she sailed as a

dry cargo ship A bulk carrier or bulker is a merchant ship specially designed to transport unpackaged bulk cargo—such as grain, coal, ore, steel coils, and cement—in its cargo holds. Since the first specialized bulk carrier was built in 1852, economic f ...

under various names and flags until in 2010 she was converted into a Powership at the Sedef Shipyard in

Tuzla Tuzla (, , ) is the List of cities in Bosnia and Herzegovina, third-largest city of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the administrative center of Tuzla Canton of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina. As of 2013, it has a population of 110,979 inha ...

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

. She supplied electricity to the power grid in south-eastern

Iraq Iraq, officially the Republic of Iraq, is a country in West Asia. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to Iraq–Saudi Arabia border, the south, Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq border, the east, the Persian Gulf and ...

. Currently, she supplies electricity to

Sierra Leone Sierra Leone, officially the Republic of Sierra Leone, is a country on the southwest coast of West Africa. It is bordered to the southeast by Liberia and by Guinea to the north. Sierra Leone's land area is . It has a tropical climate and envi ...

Cargo ship

The ship was built in 1983 (according to some sources in 1984) as a bulk carrier with deck mounted cranes by the Japanese shipyard Mitsui Co in Ichihara, Chiba with yard number 1264 and was named ''Sono''. The long vessel has a beam of and a draft of . By 41,525 DWT, she has a cargo capacity of . The ship is propelled by a single screw, which is powered by a 13,100 HP

MAN B&W Diesel MAN Diesel SE was a German manufacturer of large-bore diesel engines for marine propulsion systems and power plant applications. In 2010 it was merged with MAN Turbo to form MAN Diesel & Turbo. History In 1980 MAN acquired the Burmeister & Wain ...

engine. Misr Shipping Co. in

Egypt Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...

purchased and renamed her ''Saqqara''. Later, she was bought by Bright Star Marine in

Malta Malta, officially the Republic of Malta, is an island country in Southern Europe located in the Mediterranean Sea, between Sicily and North Africa. It consists of an archipelago south of Italy, east of Tunisia, and north of Libya. The two ...

and was renamed ''Seapace''. The

Greek Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...

company Thenamaris Ships Man. operated the cargo ship under the flag of Malta. Her next owner became another Greek maritime company, Vulcanus Technical Maritime Enterprises S.A., which renamed her to ''Melpomeni''.

Sister ships

*''Seaboxer II'', Malta (ex-''Aton'') (IMO 8117029) *''Radonezh'', Liberia (ex-''Abydos'') (IMO 8117017) *''Searider'', Malta (ex-''Thebes'') (IMO 8204286)

Powership

The freighter ''Melpomeni'' was finally acquired in 2009 by

, a subsidiary of Karadeniz Holding, with the purpose to turn her into a floating power plant sailing under the Liberian flag. She was renamed ''Karadeniz Powership Doğan Bey'' after Nuri Doğan Karadeniz, the COO of the parent company. The Sedef Shipyard in Tuzla, Istanbul was commissioned by May 2009 with the task to convert the cargo ship into a Powership by installing the needed engine generators,

transformer In electrical engineering, a transformer is a passive component that transfers electrical energy from one electrical circuit to another circuit, or multiple Electrical network, circuits. A varying current in any coil of the transformer produces ...

s and the

electric switchboard An electric switchboard is a piece of equipment that distributes electric power from one or more sources of supply to several smaller load circuits. It is an assembly of one or more panels, each of which contains switching devices for the pro ...

s on board. ''Doğan Bey'' is the first of its kind, a Powership with dual-fuel diesel engines installed on board. Aboard the vessel, twelve generator units are installed having 10.53 MW each. Three units are packed in one of the ship's four

hold Hold may refer to: Physical spaces * Hold (compartment), interior cargo space * Baggage hold, cargo space on an airplane * Stronghold, a castle or other fortified place Arts, entertainment, and media * Hold (musical term), a pause, also called ...

s and fans and funnels mounted on deck.

Bureau Veritas Bureau Veritas is a French company specialized in testing, inspection and certification founded in 1828. It operates in a variety of sectors, including building and infrastructure (27% of revenue), agri-food and commodities (23% of revenue), mar ...

, an international certification agency with experience in overseeing both shipbuilding and power plant development, classified the vessel following its conversion as "special service-floating power plant". On April 3, 2010, the floating power plant was ready to go to its first mission in Iraq. After a sending-off ceremony held at the Sedef Shipyard in presence of the Turkish and Iraqi ministers of energy, she sailed to

Basra Basra () is a port city in Iraq, southern Iraq. It is the capital of the eponymous Basra Governorate, as well as the List of largest cities of Iraq, third largest city in Iraq overall, behind Baghdad and Mosul. Located near the Iran–Iraq bor ...

, arriving there on May 1. ''Doğan Bey'' was moored at Berth #9 of Umm Qasr Port, south-eastern

, at the country's hub of imports and exports. The power plant on the ship's deck generated electricity using a refined fuel provided by the Iraqi Department of Energy and transmitted it to the national power grid. It is reported that the Powership had the ability to supply Umm Qasr with all the electric energy required and some left over. The power plant on the ship is operated and maintained by Turkish personnel, while for security around 70 local guards were hired. ''Doğan Bey'' provided electricity in Iraq for the next five years following a contract signed with the local Department of Energy. In January 2018, Karpowership signed a contract with Sierra Leone's national utility company, Electricity Distribution and Supply Authority (EDSA) to supply 30 MW of power to Freetown for a duration of 5 years. ''Doğan Bey'' is currently in

Ship's registry

* ex-MV ''Sono'' * ex-MV ''Saqqara'', Egypt-flagged, owned by Misr Shipping Co. and operated by The Egyptian Navigation Co. * ex-MV ''Seapace'', Malta-flagged, owned by Bright Star Marine, Malta and operated by Thenamaris Ships Man., Greece. * ex-MV ''Melpomeni'', Malta-flagged, owned and operated by Vulcanus Technical Maritime Enterprises S.A., Greece

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Karadeniz Powership Dogan Bey 1983 ships Ships built by Mitsui Engineering and Shipbuilding Bulk carriers Ships of Liberia Dogan Bey Electric power infrastructure in Iraq Ships built at Sedef Shipyard