World's largest ship, which survived a war, met its end in India

The journey of the world’s largest ship to be ever built, the Seawise Giant, was as majestic as the vessel itself. Over three decades of being in service, the ship underwent several renames and owners, survived a war and made it back to serving in the oceans, a journey no less than a hero’s.

The Seawise Giant was ordered to be built by a Greek business mogul who ended up not buying it, according to a report by the Telegraph UK. Japanese shipbuilder Sumitomo Heavy Industries had built the massive vessel by 1979. However, with the Greek tycoon backing down from the deal, the ship waited for its fate to be changed for some time.

Eventually, it was sold to a Hong Kong based shipping magnate CY Tung who founded Orient Overseas Container Line. Tung, determined to make the ship world’s biggest, made modifications to it and increased its capacity by over 140,000 tonnes.

The ship was 458 meters (over 1,500 feet) long and had a carrying capacity of over 600,000 tonnes, according to Virtue Marine, a Netherlands based Marine ship surveys & maritime consultancy. The ship towered the likes of Empire State Building and the Eiffel Tower in height and was much bigger than the popular Titanic.

While Seawise Giant’s massive size made her majestic and one of the biggest water carriers, it also posed maneuvering challenges during its navigation through oceans and seas. It took the ship a radius of around two miles (over three kilometers) to turn around and over five miles (around eight kilometers) to come to a complete stop from its full speed of 16.5 knots (around 30 km/h), says the Telegraph report. Also, because of its gigantic size, the vessel could not enter major ports such as the Suez Canal or Panama Canal.

Caught in the Iran-Iraq war

Seawise Giant, primarily used for the transportation of crude oil between the United States and the Middle East, began its journey in the early 1980s. However, a tragedy hit the ship, quite literally in 1988 when the ship was caught between the Iran-Iraq war.

Seawise Giant was attacked by the Iraqi Air Force while it was carrying Iranian crude oil and anchored off Larak Island in May,1988. It was hit by two missiles, blowing the flammable cargo on the ship into huge flames, damaging it almost completely, according to Virtue Marine.

Salvaged at last

The ship got a second innings of its illustrious journey after the war was over and it was salvaged by a Norwegian firm called the Norman International. The ship was taken to Singapore where it was repaired. Around 3,700 tonnes of new steel was replaced during the process, according to the article by the Telegraph. It was renamed to the ‘Happy Giant’ by the Norman International and restarted its journey by 1991.

It was then bought by Norway’s Jørgen Jahre for £30 million ($39 million) and renamed again to ‘Jahre Viking’. The ship served in the oceans for another decade after that, however, by this time, her huge size had started becoming a challenge in the modern economy. The ship’s fuel consumption was a lot and its maneuvering challenges limited it from visiting key trade ports.

End of seafaring era

By 2004, after over two decades of being in service and transporting through international waters, its days in the oceans came to an end when it was purchased by Norway’s First Olsen Tankers.

‘Jahre Viking’ was renamed to 'Knock Nevis' and was tasked to serve as a floating stationary storage facility in Qatar’s Al Shaheen Oil Field. Its 4.1 million barrels storage facility made it suitable for the job, according to Virtue Marine.

Seawise Giant’s culmination came in India

After years of service in Qatar, the ship was bought by Amber Development Corporation and was renamed to ‘Mont’ in 2009, says Virtue Marine. It was brought to Alang, India and was scrapped and dismantled for over a year, marking the end of its journey in 2010.

The vessel’s 36-tonne anchor is at display at the Hong Kong Maritime Museum.