The Incredible Story of the World's Longest Ship

Interesting Engineering
Interesting Engineering
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Publicado 2024-07-12
Most people are familiar with the Titanic, but few know the legend of the Seawise Giant, a ship that defied the odds and returned to life even after being sunk in a missile attack ordered by Saddam Hussein. Measuring 1,504 feet in length and boasting a cargo capacity of over 564,000 tons, the Seawise Giant was the longest, biggest, and heaviest ship ever made - longer than the Eiffel Tower or the Empire State Building.

The Seawise Giant was born in the late 1970s when Sumitomo Heavy Industries in Tokyo received an order from a Greek businessman for a supertanker. After the businessman backed out in 1979, Tung Chao Yung of Orient Overseas Container Line stepped in with a condition to make the ship even larger. Completed in 1981, the vessel was named Seawise Giant and became an invaluable asset, transporting crude oil between the US and the Middle East.

However, in 1988, during the Iran-Iraq war, the ship was attacked and sunk by the Iraqi Air Force while fully loaded with Iranian crude oil. Declared a total loss, it lay dormant until Norwegian company Normal International saw an opportunity. They resurrected the vessel using 3,700 tons of steel and renamed it Happy Giant.

In 1991, shipping magnate Jørgen Jahre acquired the ship, renaming it Jahre Viking. For the next decade, the vessel was active in transporting oil and featured in various media.

Despite its glory, changes in maritime trade led to its sale in 2004 to First Olsen Tankers, who renamed it Knock Nevis and used it as a storage facility in Qatar until it was finally dismantled in 2010. Today, only its 36-ton anchor remains, displayed at the Hong Kong Maritime Museum.

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