Knock Nevis

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Knock Nevis in the Dubai Drydocks
Career (Norway[1])
Name:	Knock Nevis
Owner:	First Olsen Tankers Pte. Ltd.[2]
In service:	2004[3]
Career (Norway)
Name:	1991–2004 Jahre Viking[4] 1989–1991 Happy Giant[4] 1979–1989 Seawise Giant[4]
Owner:	Loki Stream AS[2]
In service:	1979[3]
Out of service:	2004[3]
General characteristics
Tonnage:	260,941 GT[1] 214,793 NT[1]
Displacement:	81,879 long tons light ship 646,642 long tons full load
Length:	458.45 m (1,504.10 ft)[5]
Beam:	68.8 m (225.72 ft)[5]
Draught:	24.611 metres (80.74 ft)
Depth:	29.8 m (97.77 ft)[5]
Propulsion:	Steam Turbine
Speed:	16 knots
Capacity:	564,763 DWT[1]

The Knock Nevis is a massive ship, last used as a floating storage and offloading unit (FSO). She was previously a supertanker and was the longest ship ever built, as well as possessing the greatest deadweight tonnage ever recorded. Fully laden, her displacement tonnage was 646,642 tons,^[6] the heaviest of any ship of any kind. For these reasons she was generally considered the largest ship ever built.^[7][8]

When roaming the sea, the vessel had a fully laden draft of 24.6 m (81 ft), rendering it unable to navigate the English Channel, the Suez Canal or the Panama Canal when its load was up to capacity.^[9] As a tanker she was known as the Seawise Giant, Happy Giant, and Jahre Viking.

In December 2009, the vessel was sold to Indian breakers and renamed Mont for her final journey. After clearing Indian customs, she was intentionally beached in India for ship breaking. She was photographed beached for scrapping at Alang, India, on 4 January 2010.^{[10][11][12][13]}

[edit] History

Knock Nevis was built in 1979 at Sumitomo Heavy Industries' Oppama shipyard as Seawise Giant^[1][4] for a Greek owner who proved unable to take delivery.^[9]

Size comparison of some of the longest ships. From top to bottom: Knock Nevis, Emma Mærsk, RMS Queen Mary 2, MS Berge Stahl, and USS Enterprise (CVN-65).

The shipyard exercised its right to sell the vessel^[9] and a deal was brokered with Hong Kong Orient Overseas Container Line founder C. Y. Tung^[9][14] to lengthen the ship by several metres and add 87,000 metric tons of cargo capacity through jumboisation.^[9] Two years later she was relaunched as Seawise Giant.^[9]

After the refit, the ship had a capacity of 564,763 metric tons deadweight (DWT), a length overall of 458.45 metres (1,504.1 ft) and a draft of 24.611 metres (80.74 ft).^[15] She had 46 tanks, 31,541 square metres (339,500 sq ft) of deck space, and drew too much water to pass through the English Channel.^[9] Damaged during the Iran–Iraq War while transiting the Strait of Hormuz,^[16] she was declared a total loss and laid up in Brunei.^[16] At the end of the war she was towed to the Keppel Company shipyard in Singapore, repaired, and relaunched in October 1991 as the Happy Giant.^[4][16]

Jørgen Jahre bought the tanker in 1991 for US$39 million^[17] and renamed her Jahre Viking.^[4] From 1991 to 2004, she was owned by Loki Stream AS^[2] and flew the Norwegian flag.^[3]

In 2004, she was bought by First Olsen Tankers Pte. Ltd.,^[2][2] renamed Knock Nevis, and converted into a permanently moored storage tanker^[9][15][18] moored in the Qatar Al Shaheen oil field in the Persian Gulf.^[16]

Knock Nevis was renamed Mont, and reflagged with Sierra Leone, for a single voyage to India in January 2010 where she will be scrapped.^[19][20][21]

[edit] Size record

The Knock Nevis rivals some of the world's largest structures in size

Size comparison of the Knock Nevis (in red) and other ships and buildings:      The Pentagon, 431 m      RMS Queen Mary 2, 345 m      USS Enterprise (CVN-65), 342 m      Hindenburg, 245 m      Yamato, 263 m      Empire State Building, 443 m      Knock Nevis tanker, 458 m

The Knock Nevis was the longest ship ever constructed, longer than many of the world's tallest buildings are tall. Though slightly smaller than Taipei 101 at 509.2 metres (1,671 ft) and the Sears Tower at 527.3 metres (1,730 ft) from street level to top of antenna, she is larger than the Petronas Twin Towers at 452 metres (1,483 ft).

In spite of its great length, the Knock Nevis is not the largest ship by gross tonnage, ranking fifth at 236,710 GT, behind the four 274,838 to 275,276 GT Batillus-class supertankers, the largest self-propelled objects ever constructed.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] See also

• Orders of magnitude (length)
• List of world's longest ships
• Freedom Ship

[edit] Notes

[edit] References

• Burton, Sandra (23 December 1996). "Beijing's Capitalist". Time Magazine (New York: Time). http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,985727,00.html. Retrieved 14 April 2008. 
• MV Knock Nevis (classification) at the Det Norske Veritas Exchange.
• Institute of Shipping Economics and Logistics (2005). "ISL Market Analysis" (PDF). Institute of Shipping Economics and Logistics. pp. 3. http://www.isl.org/products_services/publications/pdf/comment_1-2-2005_short.pdf. Retrieved 26 April 2008. 
• Pike, John (2006-11-11). "Knock Nevis / ex-Jahre Viking". Military Systems. globalsecurity.org. http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/systems/ship/jahre-viking.htm. Retrieved 20 April 2008. 
• Singh, Baljit (11 April 1999). "The World's Biggest Ship". The Tribune (India: The Tribune House). http://www.tribuneindia.com/1999/99jul11/sunday/head3.htm. Retrieved 21 April 2008. 
• United States Coast Guard (USCG). "Jahre Viking". Port State Information Exchange. U.S. Department of Homeland Security. http://psix.uscg.mil/PSIX/PSIXDetails.aspx?VesselID=370263. 
• Watt, Nick (4 January 2007). "Skipper Shortage: Supply Not Keeping Pace". Nightline. ABC News. http://abcnews.go.com/Nightline/Story?id=4087781&page=1. Retrieved 5 April 2008. 
• Clarkson Research Studies Ltd. (1987). Tanker Register 1987. International Publication Service. ISBN 0800241436. 

[edit] External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Knock Nevis

• Photos and information
• The World's Biggest Ship
• Video of Jahre Viking