Let's return to our giant.

The most outstanding invention of mankind is oil tanker. The word itself comes from English word"tank" - tank. Sea tanker This is a vessel designed for the transportation of liquid cargo (oil, acid, vegetable oil, molten sulfur, etc.) in ship tanks (tanks). These sea vessels come in various sizes, but among them there is a special type - supertankers. These are the most big ships among tankers of such a type. They can carry 50 percent more oil on a single voyage than others, and have only 15 percent more operating costs for bunkering, crew, and insurance, allowing oil companies chartering the vessel to increase their profits and save savings. For such oil tankers there will always be demand.

Supertankers- a product of the scientific and technological revolution of our time. They did not have any specific inventor, and with the development of science and technology, their creation became possible. On oil tankers The longitudinal hull framing system was tested, the engine room and all superstructures were moved to the stern. And most importantly, during their construction, electric welding began to be widely used in shipbuilding, which later became the only way to connect hull structures made of metal.

Knock Nevis, a supertanker that was named at various times: Jahre Viking, Happy Giant and Seawise Giant.

Knock Nevis has a length of 458.45 meters, so turning the tanker in the opposite direction requires at least 2 km if the turn was carried out using tugs. The ship has a width of 68.8 meters, to give a better idea - this is the approximate width of a football field.

On upper deck The ship could accommodate 5.5 football fields.

This is the largest operational ship ever created in the history of the planet. It also has its drawbacks, which essentially predetermined the tanker’s short existence. Its draft of 24.6 meters is, for comparison, more than a standard 7-story residential building.

The ship could not pass Suez and Panama Canal due to its enormous dimensions, moreover, it was not allowed to pass through the English Channel due to the risk of running aground.

Seawise Giant was the largest ship built in the 20th century. But the giant was built before the era of double-hulled tankers, which began with the Exxon Valdez disaster. It is unlikely that new tankers will exceed the size of the Seawise Giant; most likely, the palm will be taken over by floating cities - real floating cities, with housing, offices, and everything else that is available in the city. Some projects of such vessels are already being developed.

Seawise Giant began construction in 1979 at the request of a Greek tycoon, but he went bankrupt as a result of the oil embargo of the 70s. The ship was bought by Hong Kong tycoon Tung and financed its completion. However, Tung insisted that the deadweight be increased from 480,000 to 564,763 tons, making the Seawise Giant the world's largest ship. The tanker entered service in 1981, and initially transported oil from the Gulf of Mexico fields. Then he was transferred to transport oil from Iran. There, in the Persian Gulf, it was sunk.

In 1986, during the Iran-Iraq War, in the Strait of Hormuz, a tanker was attacked and sunk by Exocet missiles from the Iraqi Air Force. An Iraqi fighter fired an Exocet anti-ship missile at a unique tanker, which was then almost in the Persian Gulf (or rather, in the Strait of Hormuz, lying between Iran and the UAE, leading to the Gulf).

She sank in shallow waters off Kharg Island, prompting her to be raised and taken to Keppel Shipyard in Singapore in August 1988 by her new owner, Norman International. Ship repairers replaced 3.7 thousand tons of crumpled steel.

Most likely, the company bought, raised and repaired the tanker mainly for prestige purposes. The refurbished Seawise Giant was renamed Happy Giant. By 1999, he again changed his owner and name - he was bought by the Norwegian Jahare Wallem and renamed Jahre Viking.

In March 2004, the giant got a new owner, First Olsen Tankers. Different times have already come, and given the age of the tanker, they decided to convert it into an FSO - a floating storage and loading complex, at the Dubai shipyards. After refitting, she was renamed Knock Nevis, and was then deployed as an FSO to the Al Shaheen field in Qatari waters.

Technical characteristics of the supertanker Knock Nevis

Commissioned: 1976
Withdrawn from the fleet: 01/04/2010
Length: 458.45 m
Width: 68.86 m
Draft: 24, 611 meters
Power plant: steam turbines with a total capacity of 50,000 hp. With.
Speed: 13-16 knots
Crew: 40 people.

Weight of transported cargo: 564,763 tons

Another 6 ULCC (ultra large oil tanker) class tankers have surpassed the 500,000 dwt mark:
Battilus 553,662 dwt 1976 - 1985 (decommissioned)
Bellamya 553,662 dwt 1976 - 1986 (decommissioned)
Pierre Guillaumat 555.051 dwt 1977 - 1983(decommissioned)
Esso Atlantic 516,000 dwt 1977 - 2002(decommissioned)
Esso Pacific 516 dwt 1977 - 2002(decommissioned)
Prairial 554,974 dwt 1979 - 2003(decommissioned)

Think about it: the giant’s braking distance is 10.2 kilometers, and its turning circle exceeds 3.7 kilometers! So, among other ships scurrying around these waters, this supertanker is like a bull in a china shop.

When the tanker needs to be brought to the oil terminal, it is taken in tow and pulled very, very slowly. It is easy to imagine what can happen if there is an error in maneuvering a ship weighing almost a million tons.

During its life, the supergiant tanker changed several owners and changed its name more than once - first to Happy Giant, then to Jahre Viking.

In 2009, the ship was transported to Alang, India, where it was forcibly stranded for disposal.

In 2010, the ship was scrapped.

At present

One of the representatives of this class sea ​​vessels was oil tanker« Batillus" This cargo ship was created, from start to finish, according to the original design without additional modernization during operation. Nautical tanker from the moment of laying it was built in 10 months, and about 70,000 tons of steel were spent on construction. Construction cost the owner $130 million.

Technical characteristics of the tanker "Batillus";
Length - 414.2 m;
Width - 63 m;
Draft - 28.5 m;
Deadweight - 655,000 tons;
Displacement - 275276 tons;

Power point- four steam turbines " Stal Laval» power of each 64800 l. With.;
Speed ​​- 16 knots;
Crew - 26 people;

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sources
http://korabley.net
http://www.ermoshka.ru
http://mostinfo.su

The supertanker Knock Nevis is the largest ship ever built in the history of the planet. At different periods of its existence it bore different names: Seawise Giant, Happy Giant, Jahre Viking.

The length of the oil tanker is 458.45 m. To turn it in the opposite direction with the help of tugs, at least 2 km was required. The width of the world's largest ship was 68.86 m. The upper deck of the Knock Nevis could theoretically accommodate 5.5 football fields.




One of the main drawbacks of the supertanker, which predetermined its short operation, was the draft when fully loaded - 24.61 m (more than a 7-story building). Due to its enormous dimensions, as well as the risk of running aground, the ship could not pass through the Suez and Panama Canals, as well as through the English Channel.




Braking distances the tanker was as much as 10.2 km, and the circulation diameter was 3.7 km. Engines: turbines with a total power of 50,000 hp. The total carrying capacity of the vessel, which was first put into operation in 1976, was 563,763 tons. The supertanker was moving at a speed of 13 knots (about 24 km/h).




In the last years of its existence, the giant tanker was operated as a floating oil storage facility. In 2009, the ship was transported to Alang (India), where it was scrapped a year later.

Knock Nevis is the largest tanker in the world, also known as Jahre Viking, Happy Giant, Seawise Giant and Mont. The oil tanker was designed and built by the Japanese in 1974-1975, long remaining the largest ship ever built. In 2010, the “sea giant” was decommissioned and subsequently dismantled for scrap.

Record holder

The tanker Knock Nevis was the largest ship, 458 meters long, built in the 20th century. It had a volume of 260,851 register tons (RT), corresponding to 738,208.3 m 3 . Only in 2013 South Korea The Prelude FLNG supertanker was manufactured, whose length was 30 meters longer than the previous record holder. However, in terms of displacement it is significantly inferior to the giant from Japan (600,000 tons versus 657,000).

This ship is so large that the deck can accommodate four football fields. Its stopping distance is about 3.5 miles (5.6 km), and with a full load of sediment in the water reaches 80 feet (more than 24 meters).

After the Exxon Valdez tanker disaster in Alaskan waters in 1989, the US government decided to use double-bottomed vessels to transport petroleum products. Ships that do not meet these requirements are not allowed into US territorial waters. This initiative was supported by many countries. Manufacturing hulls of this design is very technically difficult, so some of the record characteristics of the Knock Nevis tanker will not be broken for a long time.

In the foreseeable future, “floating city” type vessels may exceed the tonnage of the Japanese heavyweight. Some of the city-ship projects are already entering the implementation stage, but their practical implementation will require years and billions of dollars in investment.

Comparative data of the tanker Knock Nevis

The ship, designed by engineers from the Land of the Rising Sun, is one of largest ships in the history of civilization. Even the mighty aircraft carriers seem less intimidating against its background. Comparative characteristics among its fellow supertankers:

• Knock Nevis (1975-2010): displacement - 657,018 tons, volume - 260,851 RT, length - 458.5 m.
• Prelude FLNG (2013): displacement - 600,000 tons, volume - 300,000 RT, length - 488 m.
• Pierre Guillaumat (1977-1983): displacement - 555,051 tons, volume - 274,838 RT, length - 414 m.
• Prairial (1979-2003): displacement - 554,974 tons, volume - 274,826 RT, length - 414 m.
• Battilus and Bellamya (1976-1986): displacement - 553,662 tons, volume - 273,550 RT, length - 414 m.
• Esso Atlantic and Esso Pacific (1977-2002): displacement - 516,000 tons, volume - 259,532 RT, length - 406 m.

The newest TI class tankers, produced since 2002, are slightly inferior in performance to the “old guard”. Their displacement is “only” 509,484 tons, volume - 234,006 RT, length - 380 m. However, building larger vessels is not always advisable, since they will not be able to pass through the English Channel, Suez and Panama Canals.

Creation

Construction of the tanker Knock Nevis began in 1974 by the Japanese company Sumitomo Heavy Industries in Osaka for the Greek shipping magnate Aristotle Onassis. However, due to the oil embargo in the 1970s, the billionaire was declared bankrupt before the ship was even built.

The rights to the giant ship were bought by the Hong Kong shipowner Tang. He instructed the builders to increase its length and increase its carrying capacity from 480,000 to 564,763 tons. Since the tanker was actually already assembled, it was necessary to cut the hull in half and weld an additional section. Japanese specialists brilliantly coped with an unparalleled task. After launching in 1979, the ship was named Seawise Giant.

Specifications:

• Vessel type - oil tanker.
• Dimensions (length, width) - 458.45/68.86 m.
• The height of the sides above the waterline at maximum load is 24.6 m.
• Displacement - 657,018.5 tons.
• Deadweight (full load capacity including cargo, crew, food and water supplies) - 564,763 tons.
• Power power plants- 50,000 l. With.
• Cruising speed - 30 km/h (16 knots).
• The number of crew members is 40 people.
• Braking distance - 5.6 km.

Start of operation

Initially, the Knock Nevis tanker delivered oil from the Gulf of Mexico fields and Caribbean Sea in USA. It was later transferred to the Persian Gulf to export oil from Iran. In the 1980s, war broke out between neighbors Iran and Iraq. In 1986, the ship was attacked by Iraqi aircraft while moving through the Strait of Hormuz. Several Exocet missiles hit the ship. The tanker suffered enormous damage during the attack. It eventually sank in the shallow waters of Khark Island.

Renaissance

It would seem that the fate of the Seawise Giant was predetermined. However, a few months after the end of the Iran-Iraq War, in August 1988, Norman International bought the tanker resting at the bottom of the sea. Specialists managed to lift it and tow it to the Keppel shipyard in Singapore. The ship was restored and renamed the Happy Giant in honor of the miraculous rescue.

Experts note that such a costly operation to lift and repair the supertanker was not caused by economic feasibility, but by the prestige of owning the world's largest ship. By the way, almost all record-breaking supertankers built in the 70s were scrapped by the early 2000s. The oil tanker outlived its “colleagues” by a good ten years.

Further fate

In 1999, a deal was carried out to transfer the tanker Knock Nevis to Norway. In March 2004, she was sent by her new owner (First Olsen Tankers) to the Dubai dry docks, where the ship was converted into a floating oil storage and offloading terminal. Under the name Knock Nevis, he began working in the Al Shaheen field in Qatari waters.

In December 2009, the tanker Knock Nevis was sold to Indian processors for disposal. The ship sailed to its last mooring place under the name Mont. Upon arrival, the ship was deliberately grounded off the coast of the Indian state of Gujarat in the waters of the port of Alang. On January 4, 2010, the last official photograph of Knock Nevis was taken, after which dismantling of the legend of the seas began.

As a reminder of the existence of the giant supertanker, its anchor, weighing 36 tons, is exhibited as a valuable exhibit in the Maritime Museum of Hong Kong (People's Republic of China).

The story of the Titanic did not end man's dream of grandeur and grandeur. The huge ships of our time are already breaking our framework of thinking. The most big ship the world calls the 450-meter supertanker “Knock Nevis”. This is exactly what we will talk about.

Information about the largest ship in the world

. Load capacity - 565 thousand tons
. Length - 458.45 m
. Width - 68.86 m
. At maximum load it settles to 24.611 m
. Steam turbine power - 50,000 horsepower
. Speed ​​- 16 knots (30 km/h)
. Braking distance - about 10 km
. Crew - 40 people

The largest ship in the world is the supertanker Knock Nevis. Photo: Gérard Né/aukevisser.nl

. Due to its impressive size, the tanker could not navigate through the Suez and Panama Canals, as well as the English Channel. In addition, not every port is capable of mooring a vessel of this size.
. To turn around, the ship needs at least 3.7 kilometers of space.
. Compared to this supertanker, the famous Titanic is very small - Knock Nevis is 189 m longer than it.
. In tech circles, Knock Nevis has been dubbed the ULCC (Ultra Large Capacity Carrier).
. The ship changed its name five times: Seawise Giant, Happy Giant, Jahre Viking, Knock Nevis, Mont. However, the common name is “Knock Nevis”.
. Despite the problems associated with size, transporting oil in such huge quantities turned out to be more economical than transporting it in conventional tankers.
. The total cost of all oil transported by the ship is about $200 million
. During the repairs, shipyard workers needed to replace 3,700 tons of damaged hull.
. It is noteworthy that 565 thousand tons of transported oil are separated from the sea by only 3.5 centimeters of steel (side thickness).
. It took a whole year to dismantle the ship.
. The 36-ton Knock Nevis anchor was preserved and sent as an exhibit to the Hong Kong Maritime Museum.

The largest ship in the world, Knock Nevis. Photo: Gérard Né/aukevisser.nl

The history of the largest ship in the world

Knock Nevis was built by the Japanese company (Built by the Japanese company) Sumitomo Heavy Industries in 1979. But even before the ship went to sea, its owner went bankrupt.

A few years later, the new owner ordered the ship to be enlarged. The already quite impressive carrying capacity of 480,000 tons (for comparison, modern tankers can handle 280,000 tons) has been increased. To do this, the tanker was cut in half and cargo compartments were added. So Knock Nevis was able to transport 565,000 tons of cargo and became unrivaled.

In 1981, the tanker was ready. At first, he transported oil from the Middle East to the shores of the United States.

In 1986, during the Iran-Iraq war, he was on a mission to transship and store Iranian oil. However, the tanker did not escape the evil fate of the war: while the ship was in the waters of the Persian Gulf, it was fired upon by an Iraqi fighter, and the Knock Nevis received significant damage.

After the war, the tanker was purchased by a Norwegian company. It was towed to the Keppel shipyard in Singapore for repairs.

The largest ship in the world is the supertanker Knock Nevis. Photo: Roland Grard/aukevisser.nl

In 2004, the largest ship in the world was converted into a floating oil train. The reason for this was the law prohibiting the transportation of oil by single-hull tankers.

The supertanker ended its life in 2010 off the coast of the Indian city of Alang, where it was disposed of.

The Knock Nevis goes down in history not only as the largest ship in the world, but also as the largest self-propelled man-made object ever built.

The tanker, best known by the name Knock Nevis, is the largest industrial vessel that has ever been built by man. During its difficult existence, it managed to change its name, size, and scope of application several times.

As soon as it was not called! IN different years the tanker was Seawise Giant, Jahre Viking, Happy Giant, Knock Nevis And Mont. And its story began in 1974, almost 40 years ago. At this time, Japanese shipyards received an order to build largest tanker in the world. It took the companies 5 years to make the dream of the Greek shipowner come true: in 1979, a gigantic tanker, striking in its size, was launched.

But this was not enough for the initiator of the order, and he insisted on increasing the size of the ship. As a result, the vessel was cut in half and additional sections were inserted into the middle. At that time, the largest tanker on earth was named Seawise Giant.

As a result, one can only marvel at its enormous size: the length of the ship was 458.45 meters, width - 68.86 meters. And at one time the ship could transport 564.8 thousand tons of cargo. At the same time, the weight of the Knock Nevis tanker itself was 81.9 thousand tons, and if you look at its individual components, then the weight of the ship’s propeller was 50 tons, and the weight of the steering wheel reached 230 tons.

But the further “biography” of the tanker showed that such impressive dimensions became not only the advantage of the vessel, but also its significant drawback. It’s hard to imagine, but when Knock Nevis was fully loaded, it plunged under water to about 30 meters, which is the size of, for comparison, a nine-story building.

It is not surprising that such a serious draft did not allow the tanker to navigate either the Panama or Suez Canals. At the same time, the Panama Canal did not suit Knock Nevis in terms of width and length, because the tanker was 1.5 times larger than the maximum permissible dimensions gateways.

It is also interesting that the described vessel could reach speeds of up to 30 km/h, but when braking, it had to swim another 9 kilometers before it came to a complete stop. And even turning a ship with such a gigantic size was not an easy task: without a tug, the tanker turned with a radius of 3.2 kilometers.

In 1981, after a final increase in size, Knock Nevis finally began to bring profit to its owners. His “job” was transporting oil from the Middle East to the United States. However, at that time the Iran-Iraq war was raging, which made its own adjustments to the life of the ship.

Since 1986, the ship began to be used as a huge floating terminal for the movement and storage of Iranian oil, but in 1988, an Iranian fighter attacked Knock Nevis and caused significant damage to it, as a result of which the ship lost all the oil it was carrying.

It is worth noting that the thickness of the sides of the huge tanker was only 3.5 centimeters. Therefore, when a hole occurs, thousands of tons of oil freely enter the surrounding sea ​​world. As a result, significant damage was caused to the nature of the earth, and the tanker was out of commission for three years.

During the repair of the tanker, 3.7 thousand tons of damaged steel were replaced. Also at this time the ship was given a new official name- Happy Giant. But even before the completion of the repair work (carried out, by the way, in Singapore), the tanker was sold for $39 million to a Norwegian company and left the restoration docks under the name Jahre Viking.

The next significant changes in the life of the largest industrial vessel occurred in 2004. In the United States and Europe, a law was passed banning the use of thin-walled tankers for transporting oil. Thus, Knock Nevis was left without work. It was then that the tanker from Jahre Viking was renamed Knock Nevis, and began to be used as a floating oil storage facility.

In 2009, the ship changes its owner, who once again gives it a new name - Mont. Then the tanker sets off on its final voyage: to India, to Alang, which is a world-famous ship graveyard. There, over the course of several months, the ship is cut into pieces and melted down.

Today, the only attribute that remains of the world's largest industrial ship is its anchor, weighing 36 tons. It is now kept in the Hong Kong Maritime Museum.