SPOTD: Powership Rauf Bey

Today’s Ship Photo Of The Day (SPOTD) is the M/V Powership!

The Powership (actually the full name is MV Karadeniz Powership Rauf Bey) is a floating power plant, owned and operated by the Istanbul based Karadeniz Powership Company. Built 1982 in Brazil and christened MV Gulf Grain, she sailed as a bulk carrier under various names and flags until she was acquired to be converted 2009 into a powership in Turkey. Currently, she serves in Basra, Iraq supplying electricity for about one million people in and around Az Zubayr.

The originally bulk carrier was converted into a powership with 180 MW generation power and renamed Karadeniz Powership Rauf Bey. The vessel is registered under the Liberian flag with homeport Monrovia.

Is it the world’s largest?

While the Rauf Bey is impressively large the powership Ay?egül Sultan, located in Ghana,  is rated at  235 MW and the largest power  vessel is not a ship but a 250 MW gas turbine combined cycle power barge.  And Karpower is planning to develop new powerships with around 400 MW onboard.  

The largest fleet of power barges is in NYC.  There are some 70+ power barges and powerships in the fleet and it runs around 95% utilization according to the Power Barge Corporation, a Houston based company providing turnkey solutions to developers, owners and operators of barge mounted power plants.

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