Top 10 World’s Largest Ships

Which ship is the largest in the world? When everyone heard this question, the very first name which comes to our minds is the Titanic. It is no doubt one of the most famous ships which met with quite a memorable trouble on its first journey.

There are many giant ships other than the Titanic of which most of us are not aware of and that’s the reason we have brought you this list of the top 10 largest ships ever which have fared our seas and oceans. There are many ways of transportation available at the present time and each one has its own advantages.

The enormous and big ships of today transport almost 90 % of anything that the world produces. The world’s longest ships are listed according to their overall length (LOA), which is the maximum length of the vessel measured between the extreme points in fore and aft. In addition the ships’ deadweight tonnage (DWT) and gross tonnage (GT) are presented as they are often used to describe the size of a vessel.
Enjoy the list and don’t forget to mention your favorite largest ship at the end! Have a great journey!

1. Seawise Giant

Seawise Giant is the biggest ship of the world ever built till present. Seawise Giant, later Happy Giant, Jahre Viking, and Knock Nevis, was a ULCC supertanker and the longest ship ever built, and possessed the greatest deadweight tonnage ever recorded.

Fully laden, her displacement was 657,019 tonnes (646,642 long tons; 724,239 short tons), the heaviest ship of any kind, and with a draft of 24.6 m (81 ft), she was incapable of navigating the English Channel, the Suez Canal or the Panama Canal. Overall, she was generally considered the largest ship ever built,as well as the largest self-propelled man-made object ever built.

Seawise Giant was built in 1979 by Sumitomo Heavy Industries, Ltd. at their Oppama shipyard in Yokosuka, Kanagawa, Japan as a 418,000 ton ULCC to be named the Porthos by a Greek owner. It was last used as a floating storage and offloading unit (FSO) moored off the coast of Qatar in the Persian Gulf at the Al Shaheen Oil Field.

The vessel was sold to Indian ship breakers, and renamed Mont for her final journey in December 2009. After clearing Indian customs, she was sailed to, and intentionally beached at Alang, Gujarat, India for demolition. Along with the title of being the biggest ship of the world, the Seawise Giant also holds the title of being the biggest oil tanker type ship ever built.

With the deadweight tonnage almost a massive 564,700 tones and a surprisingly top speed of 16 knots, Seawise Giant has faithfully served the world and fared the seas for an astounding 30 years till 2009. Seawise Giant was also called the Queen of oceans and rivers. The length of Seawise Giant is 1,504 feet which makes it the biggest ship of the world.

2. Pierre Guillaumat (supertanker)

It was the 2nd biggest ship ever built in the history of mankind but it didn’t last quite long enough as was expected. Pierre Guillaumat was a supertanker, built in 1977 by Chantiers de l’Atlantique at Saint-Nazaire for Compagnie Nationale de Navigation. Pierre Guillaumat, which was the third vessel of Batillus class supertankers (the other three, slightly smaller, were Batillus, Bellamya and Prairial), is distinguished as the biggest ship ever constructed, surpassed in size only by Seawise Giantbuilt in 1976, and only subsequently lengthened, although the four ships of the Batillus class had a larger gross tonnage.

Named after the French politician and founder of Elf Aquitaine oil industry, Pierre Guillaumat, the vessel was completed and put in service in 1977. Due to unprofitability, accentuated by huge dimensions of the ship, which placed restrictions on where she could be employed, the Pierre Guillaumat was put on hold at Fujairah anchorage since February 2, 1983. Later that year she was bought by the Hyundai Corporation, renamed Ulsan Master and arrived at Ulsan, South Korea for demolition on October 19, 1983.

Because of her gigantic proportions the usability of the Pierre Guillaumat was very limited. She couldn’t pass through either the Panama or Suez canals. Because of her draft, she could enter a minimal number of ports in the world, and was therefore moored on offshore rigs, and oil terminals like Antifer and after off-loading to reduce her draft, at Europoort.

Pierre Guillaumat served the world for only 6 years before it was disposed of as scrap because of the huge unprofitability and declining demands. The biggest reason which created such a name of Pierre Guillaumat, ironically, became its major disadvantage which led it to its end very soon. It was the Pierre Guillaumat’s gigantic size. Because of the huge structure of the ship, it was very difficult for many harbors to provide a good parking for the ship. The deadweight tonnage of Pierre Guillaumat was almost 555,000 tones with near about 16 knots of speed. The length of Pierre Guillaumat was almost 1,360 feet.

3. Batillus

Batillus was a supertanker, built in 1976 by Chantiers de l’Atlantique at Saint-Nazaire for the French branch of Shell Oil. The first vessel of homonymous Batillus class supertankers, Batillus, together with her sister ships Bellamya, Pierre Guillaumat and Prairial, was one of the biggest ships in the world, surpassed in size only by Seawise Giant (later Jahre Viking, Happy Giant and Knock Nevis) built in 1976, and extended in 1981, although the four ships of the Batillus class had a larger gross tonnage.

Her last voyage was from Vestnes to Kaoshiung (Taiwan) where she arrived on December 28, 1985 to be scrapped. One of the main reasons of scrapping the Batillus was purely financial keeping in view its very less usage and demand. When it comes to weight capacity, the deadweight capacity of Batillus was almost 554,000 and the speed of this big ship was 16 to 17 knots. The length of Batilluswas almost 1,359 feet.

4. Prairial (supertanker)

Prairial was a supertanker, built in 1979 by Chantiers de l’Atlantique at Saint-Nazaire for Compagnie Nationale de Navigation. Prairial, which was the fourth and final vessel of Batillus class supertankers (the other three were Batillus, Bellamya and Pierre Guillaumat).

It was the only ship of that class to have a career longer than ten years, sailing until 2003, although under different names: Sea Brilliance (1985), Hellas Fos (1986) and Sea Giant (1997). She is also distinguished as the third biggest ship ever constructed, surpassed in size only by Seawise Giant built in 1976 and subsequently lengthened, and her sister ship Pierre Guillaumat.

Prairial was an oil Tanker which has served the world for almost 34 years by transporting crude oil and goods from one corner of the world to the other. Prairial is the only big ship which, despite undergoing many name changes with the passing of time, is still mostly known by its first name. With a massive deadweight tonnage capacity of almost 555,000 tones, Prairial has challenged many a sea storms in its voyages and won the battle many times. The length of Prairialwas 1,359 feet and the speed capacity was almost 16 knots.

5. Esso Atlantic

Esso Atlantic is one of the most popular historic names in the big ships category. This huge ship used to be the best in its time and has served the world with its consistent services level of straight 35 years. Basically it was an oil tanker with the deadweight tonnage capacity of almost 516,000 tones. The length of this huge ship was 1,334 feet and the speed capacity was up to 16 knots. Esso Atlantic was disposed off as scrap on 2002 in Pakistan.

6. Emma Mærsk

In the list of top 10 biggest ships of the world, Emma Maersk is currently the biggest ship which is still in service. Along with this title, Emma Mærsk is the first container ship in the E-class of eight owned by the A. P. Moller-Maersk Group. When she was launched in 2006, Emma Mærsk was the largest container ship ever built.

As of 2010, she and her seven sister ships are the longest container ships constructed and the longest ships currently in use, after the largest ship ever built, Seawise Giant, was permanently moored in 2004 and scrapped in 2010. Officially, Emma Mærsk is able to carry around 11,000 twenty-foot equivalent units (TEU) or 14,770 TEU depending on definition. In May 2010, the class set a record of 15,011 TEU in Tanger-Med, Tangiers on sister Ebba Mærsk.

Emma Maerskis one of the most finely made biggest ships present today. It’s a container ship which carries different goods from country to country. Emma Maersk entered the oceans to serve the world in August 2006 with the deadweight tonnage capacity of almost 159,000 and the speed of almost 26 knots which makes it one of the fastest container ships of the world as well. The length of the massive big ship is 1,305 feet.

7. TI class supertanker

TI class supertanker, TI Oceania is one of the most attractive ships ever built with massive capacity transferring crude oil. TI Oceania is a huge oil tanker still in working condition even after a tough journey routine of 9 years.

The deadweight tonnage of TI Oceania is around 440,000 tones along with the speed capacity of between 16 to 18 knots. TI Oceania is a master piece ship highly laden with technology to hurdle all the obstacles which might encounter during the journeys.

If you look at TI Oceania from the sky or from a long distance, the very first thing which comes to mind is a giant iceberg floating on the water. The length of TI Oceania is 1,246 feet.

8. Globtik Tokyo

Globtik Tokyo touched the surface of water in February 1973 for its first voyage. It was one of the biggest oil tankers of its time with the length of 1,243 feet and a massive deadweight tonnage capacity of almost 484,000 tons. Along with this huge weight lifting capacity, Globtik Tokyo had a top speed of 16 to 17 knots.

Globtik Tokyo served the world continuously for a straight 13 years until its life ended. The red and black combination of coloring scheme on the body of Globtik Tokyo, when moving on water gave a great view to everyone, greatly enhanced its beauty and massive looks.

9. Jarmada class

Jarmada class started off on July 1975 to carry oil to different corners of the world. With the length of 1,225 feet and the speed of almost 16 knots, Jarmada class has made many successful voyages. With a long service period of almost 32 years, Jarmada class came to an end in 2008.

The deadweight tonnage of this huge ship was 380,000 and in its time was counted one of the most strongest, powerful and biggest ship of the world. Jarmada class was retired three years ago and now is currently being used as a dumb storage tank barge.

10. MS Vale Brasil

MS Vale Brasil, owned by the Brazilian mining company Vale, is the world’s largest bulk carrier.Designed to carry iron ore from Brazil to Asia along the Cape route around South Africa, she is the first of seven 400,000-ton very large ore carriers (VLOC) ordered by Vale from Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering in South Korea and twelve from Jiangsu Rongsheng Heavy Industries in China. While close to the specifications of Chinamax, these ships are generally referred to as Valemax vessels by Vale.

It is a huge bulk carrier in service ship with the length of 1,188 feet and a gross registered tonnage of almost 199,000 tones. Vale Brasil started its maiden voyage in May 2011 and since then it is in service for transferring cargo materials from one country to another.

If you look at Vale Brasil from high above, then no doubt you will say that it’s a lady in red because of its eye captivating red colors. With the maximum speed of 14.9 knots, Vale Brasil can handle deadweight tonnage of almost up to 400,000. Vale Brasil is also one of the world’s largest iron ore carriers of the world.

Source : http://www.acecabana.com