Knock Nevis

TT ''Seawise Giant''—earlier ''Oppama''; later ''Happy Giant'', ''Jahre Viking'', ''Knock Nevis'', and ''Mont''—was a ULCC supertanker and the longest self-propelled ship in history. It was built in 1974–1979 by Sumitomo Heavy Industries in Yokosuka, Kanagawa, Japan. The ship possessed the greatest deadweight tonnage ever recorded. Fully laden, its displacement was 657,019 tonnes.

At the time she was built, it was the heaviest self-propelled ship of any kind. With a laden draft of and a length of , it was incapable of navigating the English Channel, the Suez Canal or the Panama Canal. It is generally considered the largest self-propelled ship ever built. In 2013 its overall length was surpassed by by the floating liquefied natural gas (FLNG) installation '' Shell Prelude'', a monohull barge design long with 600,000 tonnes displacement. ''Seawise Giant's'' engines were powered by Ljungström turbines.

It was damaged in an airstrike in 1988 during the Iran–Iraq War but later repaired and restored to service. The vessel was moored off the coast of Qatar in the Persian Gulf at the Al Shaheen Oil Field in 2004 and converted to a floating storage and offloading (FSO) unit.

''Seawise Giant'' was sold to Indian ship breakers and renamed ''Mont'' for its final journey in December 2009. After clearing Indian customs, the ship sailed to Alang Ship Breaking Yard in Alang, Gujarat and beached for scrapping, which was completed in 2010.

History

''Seawise Giant'' was ordered in 1974 and delivered in 1979 by Sumitomo Heavy Industries, Ltd. (S.H.I.) at Oppama shipyard in Yokosuka, Kanagawa, Japan, as a 418,611-ton Ultra Large Crude Carrier (ULCC). The vessel remained unnamed for a long time, and was identified by its hull number, 1016. During sea trials, 1016 exhibited severe vibration problems while going astern. The Greek owner refused to take delivery and the vessel was subject to a lengthy arbitration proceeding. Following settlement, the vessel was sold and named ''Oppama'' by S.H.I.

The shipyard exercised its right to sell the vessel and a deal was brokered with Hong Kong Orient Overseas Container Line founder C. Y. Tung to lengthen the ship by several metres and add 146,152 tonnes of cargo capacity through jumboisation. Two years later the ship was relaunched as ''Seawise Giant''. "Seawise", a pun on "C.Y.'s", was used in the names of other ships owned by C.Y. Tung, including '' Seawise University''.

After the refit, the ship had a capacity of , a length overall of and a draft of . It had 46 tanks, and of deck space. When ''Seawise Giant'' was fully loaded, its 25 meter/81 foot draft was too deep to safely navigate the relatively shallow English Channel. The rudder weighed 230 tons, and the propeller weighed 50 tons. ''INC Alumni Association''. Retrieved: 24 July 2010.

''Seawise Giant'' was damaged in 1988 during the Iran–Iraq War by an Iraqi Air Force attack while anchored off Larak Island, Iran on 14 May 1988 while carrying Iranian crude oil. The ship was struck by two 1,000 kg bombs dropped from planes. Fires ignited aboard the ship, spreading to the oil leaked into the surrounding water and blazing out of control. Contrary to some later internet reports the vessel did not sink; images of the burnt-out but still afloat vessel have been published online.

After the fires were extinguished, the remaining cargo was discharged to other tankers. The ship was declared a constructive total loss, meaning it was intact but so damaged that it would not be economical to repair.

Shortly after the Iran–Iraq war ended, a Norwegian investment firm managed by Finanshuset bought the damaged vessel, which had by then been towed to a lay-up location off Labuan. The manager was Norman International AS, a Norwegian ship manager that was subsequently dissolved in 1992. The vessel was then towed from Labuan to Singapore and repaired at the Keppel Corporation. It was renamed ''Happy Giant'', in line with Norman International’s tradition of naming tankers with the prefix «Happy» and bulkers with the prefix «Norman». She re-entered service in October 1991.

Jørgen Jahre bought the tanker in 1991 for US$39 million and renamed it ''Jahre Viking''. From 1991 to 2004, it was owned by various Norwegian investment firms and flew the flag of Norway.

In 2004, the tanker was purchased by First Olsen Tankers, renamed ''Knock Nevis'', and converted into a permanently moored storage tanker in the Qatar Al Shaheen Oil Field in the Persian Gulf.

''Knock Nevis'' was renamed ''Mont'' and reflagged to Sierra Leone by new owners Amber Development for a final voyage to India where it was scrapped by Priya Blue Industries at Alang. The vessel was beached on 22 December 2009. Due to the vessel extreme size, scrapping took until the end of 2010. The ship's 36 tonne anchor was saved and donated to the Hong Kong Maritime Museum in 2010. It was later moved to a Hong Kong Government Dockyard building on Stonecutters Island.

Size record

''Seawise Giant'' was the longest ship ever constructed, at , longer than the height of many of the world's tallest buildings, including the Petronas Towers.

Despite its length, ''Seawise Giant'' was not the largest ship by gross tonnage, ranking sixth at 260,941 GT, behind the crane ship '' Pioneering Spirit'' and the four 274,838 to 275,276 GT ''Batillus''-class supertankers. It was the longest and largest by deadweight at 564,763 tonnes.

''Seawise Giant'' was featured on the BBC series '' Jeremy Clarkson's Extreme Machines'' while sailing as ''Jahre Viking''. According to the captain S. K. Mohan, the ship could reach up to in good weather. It took for the ship to stop from that speed, and the turning circle in clear weather was about .

Gallery

MT Jahre Viking.png, ''Jahre Viking''
Comparison of Knock Nevis with other large buildings.svg, A comparison diagram of the ''Knock Nevis'' with several large buildings. From left to right: Eiffel Tower, Empire State Building, Petronas Towers, ''Knock Nevis'' (ex ''Seawise Giant)'', Willis Tower, Taipei 101 and Burj Khalifa.
Bateaux comparaison2 with Allure.svg, Size comparison of some of the longest ships. From top to bottom: ''Knock Nevis'' (ex-''Seawise Giant''), '' Maersk Mc-Kinney Møller'', '' Vale Brasil'', '' Allure of the Seas'', and

See also

* List of longest ships
* TI-class supertanker
* Freedom Ship

References

Further reading

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External links

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The Jahre Viking

{{1988 shipwrecks

1979 ships
Maritime incidents in 1988
Fred. Olsen & Co.
Floating production storage and offloading vessels
Oil tankers
Ships built by Sumitomo Heavy Industries
Iran–Iraq War
Tankers of Norway
Construction records
Steam turbine-powered ships