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.[6]
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.[6]
Doğan Bey is the first of its kind, a Powership with dual-fuel diesel engines installed on board.[7] 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[8] 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".[9]
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.[10][11][12]
Doğan Bey was moored at Berth #9 of Umm Qasr Port,[10] south-eastern Iraq, 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.[13] The power plant on the ship is operated and maintained by Turkish personnel, while for security around 70 local guards were hired.[13] Doğan Bey provided electricity in Iraq for the next five years following a contract signed with the local Department of Energy.[13]
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 Sierra Leone.
