Completed 1983 Draft 17 m | Homeport Monrovia, Liberia | |
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Name Kaya Bey (2009– )
Kamari (2000–09)
St Cergue (1991–00)
El Amaan (1983–91) Owner Karadeniz Powership Co., Istanbul, Turkey (2009– ) Operator Karadeniz Powership Co. Builder Ishibras Shipyard, Verolme Estaleiros Reunidos do Brasil, Angra dos Reis, Brazil | ||
The MV MV Karadeniz Powership Kaya Bey is a Liberia-flagged powership, a floating oil-burning power plant, owned and operated by Karadeniz Powership Co. of Istanbul, Turkey. Built 1983 in Brazil and christened MV Gulf Grain, she sailed as a bulk carrier under various names and flags until she was acquired in 2009 to be converted into a powership in Turkey. According to Karadeniz Powership, in May 2015 their powerships Rauf Bey, Kaya Bey, Doğan Bey, and İrem Sultan were supplying electricity to the power grid in Iraq.
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Cargo ship
She was built by the Ishibras Shipyard of Verolme Estaleiros Reunidos do Brasil at Angra dos Reis, Brazil as a bulk carrier in October 1983. The 241.89 m (793 ft 7 in) (LOA) long vessel has a beam of 32.20 m (105 ft 8 in) and a draft of 6.66 m (21 ft 10 in). By 75,485 DWT, she has a cargo capacity of 41,521 GT.
She saw service under the names El-Amaan, St Cergue and Kamari before she was sold in May 2009 to the Karadeniz Powership Company.
Powership
She was converted into a powership and renamed Karadeniz Powership Kaya Bey as the third of the fleet. In 2010 she was considered the "biggest powership of the world". The vessel is registered under the Liberian flag with homeport Monrovia.
In November 2010 the powership with 216 MW generation power set sail to Karachi, Pakistan also carrying humanitarian aid for the victims of the 2010 Pakistan floods. She bridges electricity shortage supplying around 20% of the power demand of the 12-million population city of Karachi for a five-year term. The powership burns heavy fuel oil (HFO), the only available energy resource in Pakistan.
Dispute
In March 2012 the Karadeniz Energy Group (Karkey) annulled the energy purchase agreement with the Pakistan National Accountability Bureau (NAB), which covered the service of the Turkish powerships MV KPS Kaya Bey and the later stationed MV KPS Ali Can Bey, due to non-payment and non-supply of oil. At the end of October 2012 the Pakistani government ordered the repayment of the unused amount of the deposit from the Turkish partner before the ships can leave. Upon a complaint filed by a politician in the Parliament of Pakistan, the Supreme Court of Pakistan ordered the seizure of the retained powerships due to a fine of US$120 million demanded by the NAB. The case went to international arbitration on March 11, 2013.
On May 16, 2014, after being retained for two years, MV KPS Kaya Bey sailed from left Karachi to Dubai for repairs and maintenance, in compliance with an intermediate decision of the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID). On August 1 the same year, a second decision of the ICSID enabled the definitive and lasting release of the powership.
The dispute was also discussed by both countries' prime ministers and state presidents. It was reported that the second powership and two other vessels of the Turkish company were still in retainment by August 2014.