Seawise Giant

TT Knock Nevis, formerly Seawise Giant, leaving the Dubai Drydocks
History
Name
  • Seawise Giant (1979–1991)
  • Happy Giant (1991)
  • Jahre Viking (1991–2004)
  • Knock Nevis (2004–2009)
  • Mont (2009–2010)
Owner
  • Amber Development (2009–2010)
  • First Olsen Tankers Pte. (2004–2009)
  • Loki Stream AS (1991–2004)
OperatorPrayati Shipping (2009–2010)
Port of registry
Builder
Completed1979
Out of service1988 and 2009
Identification
FateScrapped in 2010
Notes
General characteristics
TypeCrude oil tanker
Tonnage
  • 260,941 GT
  • 214,793 NT
  • 564,763 DWT
Displacement
  • 81,879 long tons light load
  • 646,642 long tons full load
Length458.45 m (1,504.10 ft)
Beam68.6 m (225.07 ft)
Draft24.611 m (80.74 ft)
Depth29.8 m (97.77 ft)
Propulsion
Speed16.5 knots (30.6 km/h; 19.0 mph)
Capacity4.1 million barrels
Notes

TT Seawise Giant—earlier Oppama; later Happy Giant, Jahre Viking, Knock Nevis, and Mont—was a ULCC supertanker and the longest self-propelled ship in history. It was built in 1974–1979 by Sumitomo Heavy Industries in Yokosuka, Kanagawa, Japan. The ship possessed the greatest deadweight tonnage ever recorded. Fully laden, its displacement was 657,019 tonnes.

At the time she was built, it was the heaviest self-propelled ship of any kind. With a laden draft of 24.6 m (81 ft) and a length of 458.45 m (1,504.1 ft), it was incapable of navigating the English Channel, the Suez Canal or the Panama Canal. It is generally considered the largest self-propelled ship ever built. In 2013 its overall length was surpassed by 30 m (98 ft) by the floating liquefied natural gas (FLNG) installation Shell Prelude, a monohull barge design 488 m (1,601 ft) long with 600,000 tonnes displacement. Seawise Giant's engines were powered by Ljungström turbines.

It was damaged in an airstrike in 1988 during the Iran–Iraq War but later repaired and restored to service. The vessel was moored off the coast of Qatar in the Persian Gulf at the Al Shaheen Oil Field in 2004 and converted to a floating storage and offloading (FSO) unit.

Seawise Giant was sold to Indian ship breakers and renamed Mont for its final journey in December 2009. After clearing Indian customs, the ship sailed to Alang Ship Breaking Yard in Alang, Gujarat and beached for scrapping, which was completed in 2010.