Powership’s Identity and MARPOL Convention Application

The concept, although it is not new, came to surface in the last ten years with significant technological improvement and became a temporary solution for the port cities where the supply of electricity is in need. A ship shaped floatable structure with a huge power generator on board becomes the temporary but effective solution. However, these converted ex-ships are still legally ships in order to admit them sufficiently within the scope of a leading convention, which applies to marine and air pollution from ships. This issue needs research on the legal definition of the “ship” to clarify if it is a ship and to determine whether that would also fall within the concept of MARPOL.