Seawise Giant, the largest ship ever built and a massive oil tanker, has a remarkable and peculiar history, marked by various name changes. This colossal vessel is recognized as the largest moving object ever constructed. The Seawise Giant, formerly known as the Jahre Viking and later the Knock Nevis, was a supertanker. It was constructed in 1979 by Sumitomo Heavy Industries in Japan and measured 458.45 meters (1,503 feet) in length, 68.8 meters (225 feet) in width, and 24.6 meters (81 feet) in depth.
In a time of grandiosity, the Seawise Giant remains the epitome of grandeur, a ship of such immense proportions that it could effortlessly consume India’s largest vessel, the 25,000-tonne INS Vikrant aircraft carrier, in its cargo space. Ashore, with a length of 485.46 meters from bow to stern, the Seawise Giant would tower over the world’s tallest artificial structure on land, Malaysia’s 424-meter Petronas Tower. In the water, the ship is 100% larger than the newest generation of competing supertankers such as the ill-fated Exxon Valdez.
Originally built to transport crude oil, the Seawise Giant was owned by a Norwegian shipping company called Jahre Line. It operated successfully for several years until it was severely damaged in 1988 during the Iran-Iraq War when it was attacked by an Iraqi fighter jet. The damage was so extensive that the ship was deemed a total loss.
However, the Seawise Giant was eventually salvaged and repaired, and it returned to service in 1991 under a new name, the Jahre Viking. It continued to transport oil for several more years until it was sold to a company in Singapore in 2004 and renamed the Knock Nevis.
The Knock Nevis was eventually converted into a floating storage and offloading unit and was permanently moored off the coast of Qatar. However, in 2010, the ship was sold for scrap and was towed to a ship-breaking yard in India. Despite its relatively short life as a functional ship, the Seawise Giant was an engineering marvel and a testament to the human desire to build bigger and better structures. Its size and history make it a fascinating topic of study for maritime enthusiasts and historians alike.
Despite its impressive history of breaking records, the Seawise Giant met a somber fate in its final days. Although the ship’s immense size would lead one to believe it was too grand to be dismantled, it actually took a whole year and 18,000 workers to scrap the vessel due to its size.
However, the decision to scrap the Seawise Giant was not a surprising one, as the cost to operate the ship was greater than the revenue it could generate as a shipping vessel. The ship’s legacy is a mixed one, filled with both remarkable achievements and unfortunate mistakes.
While the Seawise Giant will forever be remembered as an engineering marvel, its massive size ultimately proved to be more of a burden than a benefit. Despite this, no other ship has yet attempted to surpass the Seawise Giant in size or scope. In 2010, the ship was dismantled and given the name “Mount” while it was being demolished in Alang. Read More – Titanic History – A Miserable Night to Remember
