Completed 1983 Draft 5.85 m | Yard number 1264 Builder Ichihara | |
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Operator Karadeniz Powership Co. | ||
The MV Karadeniz Powership Doğan Bey is a Liberia-flagged powership, a floating power plant, owned and operated by the Istanbul based Turkish company Karadeniz Powership Co. Built 1983 by Mitsui Co. in Ichihara, Chiba, Japan and christened MV Sono, she sailed as a dry cargo ship under various names and flags until in 2010 she was converted into a powership at the Sedef Shipyard in Tuzla, Turkey. Currently, moored ashore of Basra, she supplies electricity to the power grid in south-eastern Iraq.
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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 188.14 m (617 ft 3 in) long vessel has a beam of 31.00 m (101 ft 8 in) and a draft of 5.85 m (19 ft 2 in). By 41,525 DWT, she has a cargo capacity of 24,729 GT. The ship is propelled by a single screw, which is powered by a 13,100 HP MAN B&W Diesel engine.
Misr Shipping Co. in Egypt purchased and renamed her Saqqara. Later, she was bought by Bright Star Marine in Malta and was renamed Seapace. The Greek 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
Project "Power of Friendship"
Karadeniz Energy Group in Turkey developed a project named "Power of Friendship", which aims to supply electricity to shortage-stricken countries in the Middle East, northern Africa and southern Asia. Currently the Group operates nine floating power plants with a total capacity exceeding 1,500 MW.
For the manufacturing of the on-board power plant, a contract was signed with the German MAN Diesel company based in Augsburg. The contract, worth over €100 million, includes the supply of 24 large-bore diesel engines, along with electro-mechanical equipment to be installed on four powerships with a total output of 400 MW. Twenty one of them are of type 18V51/60DF dual-fuel diesel engines and the three of type 14V48/60 heavy fuel oil engines. The dual-fuel diesel engines allow the powership to generate electricity running either on heavy fuel or natural gas, whatever the infrastructure is available at site.
Powership
The freighter Melpomeni was finally acquired in 2009 by Karpowership, 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, transformers and the electric switchboards 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 holds and fans and funnels mounted on deck.
Bureau Veritas, 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, arriving there on May 1.
Currently, the Doğan Bey is moored at Berth #9 of Umm Qasr Port, south-eastern Iraq, at the country's hub of imports and exports. The power plant on the ship's deck generates electricity using a refined fuel provided by the Iraqi Department of Energy and runs it to the national power grid. It is reported that the powership has 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 the security of the facility, around 70 local guards are hired.
After Mutlu Çevik, the powership's captain and manager, Doğan Bey will provide electricity in Iraq for the next five years following a contract signed with the local Department of Energy.