Jahre Viking

Knock Nevis

The Knock Nevis is a floating storage and offloading unit (FSO) currently owned by the Norwegian company Fred Olsen Production. The unit was previously a supertanker and as such held the record for the world's largest ship. As a tanker the ship was known under the names Seawise Giant, Happy Giant, and Jahre Viking.

The ship has a draft of 24.6 m (81 ft) when fully loaded, which makes it impossible for it to navigate even the English Channel or the man-made canals at Suez and Panama.

History

Knock Nevis was built in 1979 at Sumitomo Heavy Industries's Oppama shipyard as Seawise Giant. The ship was built for a Greek owner who was unable to take delivery of the ship.

The shipyard then exercised its right to sell the ship. A deal was brokered with Hong Kong shipping magnate C. Y. Tung, founder of the shipping line Orient Overseas Container Line. A deal was reached, but Tung required the ship's size be increased by several metres in length and 87,000 metric tons of cargo capacity by jumboisation. Two years later, the vessel was launched and named Seawise Giant.

After the refit, the ship had a capacity of , a length overall of and a draft of . She had 46 tanks, of deck space, and was too large to pass through the English Channel.

From 1979 to 2004, she was owned by the company Loki Stream AS. During this period she flew the Norwegian flag.

In this period, she was renamed Happy Giant from 1989 to 1991.

Jorden Jahre bought the ship in 1991 for the sum of US$39 Million. It was at this stage that the ship was renamed Jahre Viking. It was sold in 2004.

The ship was damaged during the Iran–Iraq War while transiting the Strait of Hormuz. As a result she was declared a total loss and laid up in Brunei. At the end of the war, she was towed to the Keppel Company shipyard in Singapore, repaired, and renamed Happy Giant. The ship was sailing again in October 1991.

In 2004, she was bought by First Olsen Tankers Pte. Ltd., renamed Knock Nevis and converted into a permanently moored storage tanker.On November 30, 2004 the conversion to FSO was completed. The ship is now permanently moored in the Qatar Al Shaheen oil field in the Persian Gulf, operating as an FSO.

Size record

In terms of length, Knock Nevis has a length overall of , making her the largest ship ever constructed. The vessel is longer than many of the world's tallest buildings are tall, for example the Petronas Twin Towers at . She is smaller than the Sears Tower at , and Taipei 101 at , and considerably smaller than the skyscraper Burj Dubai, currently under construction, at .

Knock Nevis is not the largest ship in all measures, though. By gross tonnage, for example, she ranks fifth, at 236,710 GT, behind the four Batillus class supertankers which range from 274,838 to 275,276 GT. These ships are the largest self-propelled objects ever constructed.

Notes

References

Burton, Sandra (1954). "Beijing's Capitalist". Time Magazine Retrieved on 2008-04-14.
Institute of Shipping Economics and Logistics ISL Market Analysis. Institute of Shipping Economics and Logistics. (2005). Retrieved on 2008-04-26..
Pike, John Knock Nevis / ex-Jahre Viking. Military Systems. globalsecurity.org. Retrieved on 2008-04-20..
Singh, Baljit "The World's Biggest Ship". The Tribune. The Tribune House, Retrieved on 2008-04-21.
Watt, Nick Skipper Shortage: Supply Not Keeping Pace. Nightline. ABC News. Retrieved on 2008-04-05..