Turkish Power-Ship Maker Karadeniz Eyeing Expansion in Africa, US, UK

 Karadeniz Holding’s powership, Rauf Bey. Photo courtesy Karadeniz Holding

TUZLA, Turkey, July 30 (Reuters) – Turkish power-ship builder Karadeniz Holding expects to supply its next electricity-generating vessel to a Middle Eastern or African nation and is also looking at U.S. and British markets, Chief Executive Orhan Karadeniz said on Tuesday.

Closely held Karadeniz, the world’s only maker of self-propelled floating power stations, already produces electricity for Iraq and Lebanon, part of its fleet of seven power ships with a combined capacity of 1,200 megawatts.

The next ship, expected to be completed in six months, will be delivered to a country in the Middle East, North Africa or subsaharan Africa, Orhan Karadeniz told reporters after the ceremonial launch of the company’s latest ship in the town of Tuzla, south of Istanbul.

“Britain is among the target countries for 2016, amid concerns there that the closure of coal-fired plants could leave it without (enough) power,” he said. “There could be a seasonal or periodic need for power ships in places … like New York.”

The Istanbul-based company is also looking at affluent countries in South America that have a manufacturing- or mining-base that require excessive power, he said.

The power ships, which are typically converted freighters or other vessels, are aimed at serving mainly developing countries with inadequate onshore infrastructure to cover shortfalls in their electricity supply. Power barges, which require another ship for propulsion, are far more common. (Reporting by Ayla Jean Yackley, Editing by David Evans)

(c) 2013 Thomson Reuters

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