The Seawise Giant, a supertanker, holds the record as the longest and heaviest ship ever constructed. Measuring 100 meters longer than the current longest active cruise ship, the Icon of the Sea, and 200 meters longer than the Titanic, this colossal vessel was also taller than the Empire State Building in New York.
Largest Ship Ever
It remains the largest ship ever to have sunk, having been attacked by Iraqi forces during the Iran-Iraq War in 1988.
Yet, the Seawise Giant was not destined to remain on the ocean floor. After being salvaged and repaired, the vessel was rechristened multiple times and returned to service. Her journey ultimately ended in 2010 when she was sold for scrap. This is the remarkable story of a ship that survived both war and time.
The Seawise Giant, previously known as Oppama, Happy Giant, Jahre Viking, Knock Nevis, and Mont, was a ULCC (Ultra Large Crude Carrier) supertanker and holds the title of the longest self-propelled ship in history. Constructed between 1974 and 1979 by Sumitomo Heavy Industries in Yokosuka, Kanagawa, Japan, she had the greatest deadweight tonnage ever recorded. When fully loaded, the vessel's displacement reached 657,019 tonnes.
At the time of her construction, Seawise Giant was the heaviest self-propelled ship ever built. With a loaded draft of 24.6 meters and a length of 458.45 meters (1,504.10 feet), she was unable to navigate the English Channel, the Suez Canal, or the Panama Canal. Despite this, she remains widely regarded as the largest self-propelled ship ever constructed. In 2013, her overall length was exceeded by the Shell Prelude, a floating liquefied natural gas (FLNG) installation, which measures 488 meters (1,601 feet) in length and has a displacement of 600,000 tonnes. Seawise Giant was powered by Ljungström turbines.
She Even Got Struck by Airstrike
During the Iran-Iraq War in 1988, the Seawise Giant was damaged in an airstrike but was later repaired and returned to service. In 2004, she was converted into a Floating Storage and Offloading (FSO) unit and moored off the coast of Qatar at the Al Shaheen Oil Field in the Persian Gulf.
In 1991, the vessel known as the Happy Giant was ready to resume its service as an oil tanker. Chartered by various companies and countries, it continued transporting crude oil worldwide. That same year, it was renamed Jahre Viking after its new owner. In 2004, the ship underwent a significant transformation into a Floating Storage and Offloading (FSO) unit and was stationed at the Al Shaheen oil field in Qatar. At that time, it was renamed again, becoming Knock Nevis, after a Norwegian village.
Black Destiny in Scrapping
In 2009, the vessel was sold to an Indian company and renamed Mont for its final voyage to India, where it would be dismantled. The Mont arrived at the Alang shipbreaking yard in Gujarat, India, in December 2009. Beached on the shore, it was dismantled piece by piece by hundreds of workers. The scrapping process, which took about a year, marked the end of the Seawise Giant's long and storied journey. The ship that had once been the largest and heaviest in the world, and had survived both war and time, was finally gone.