Heavy lift ship
Encyclopedia
Ship
Since the end of the age of sail a ship has been any large buoyant marine vessel. Ships are generally distinguished from boats based on size and cargo or passenger capacity. Ships are used on lakes, seas, and rivers for a variety of activities, such as the transport of people or goods, fishing,...
designed to move very large loads that cannot be handled by normally equipped ships. They are of two types: semi-submerging capable of lifting another ship out of the water and transporting it; and vessels that augment unloading facilities at inadequately equipped ports.
History
In the 1920s the BremenBremen
The City Municipality of Bremen is a Hanseatic city in northwestern Germany. A commercial and industrial city with a major port on the river Weser, Bremen is part of the Bremen-Oldenburg metropolitan area . Bremen is the second most populous city in North Germany and tenth in Germany.Bremen is...
based shipping company DDG Hansa saw a growing demand of shipments of assembled locomotives to British India. That led to the construction of the world's first heavy lift vessel, with a 120 t (118 LT; 132 ST) derrick. After World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, DDG Hansa became the world's largest heavy lift shipping company. In terms of lifting capacity it reached its peak in 1978 with refitting the Japanese built bulk carrier MV Trifels with two 320 t (315 LT; 353 ST) Stülcken derricks. Shortly after that, in 1980, DDG went bankrupt. With that, only the Dutch shipping companies Jumbo and Mammoet (renamed Biglift) were left as heavy lift shipping specialists.
Submerging types
Semi-submerging are more commonly known as a "flo/flo" for float-on/float-off. These vessels have a long and low well deck between a forward pilot house and an aftAft
Aft, in naval terminology, is an adjective or adverb meaning, towards the stern of the ship, when the frame of reference is within the ship. Example: "Able Seaman Smith; lay aft!". Or; "What's happening aft?"...
machinery space. In superficial appearance, it is somewhat similar to a dry bulk carrier or some forms of oil tanker. Its ballast tanks can be flooded to lower the well deck below the water's surface, allowing oil platforms, other vessels, or other floating cargo to be moved into position for loading. The tanks are then pumped out, and the well deck rises to shoulder the load. To balance the cargo, the various tanks can be pumped unevenly.
The flo/flo industry's largest customer base is the oil industry. They have transported many oil drilling rigs
Oil platform
An oil platform, also referred to as an offshore platform or, somewhat incorrectly, oil rig, is a lаrge structure with facilities to drill wells, to extract and process oil and natural gas, and to temporarily store product until it can be brought to shore for refining and marketing...
(flo/flo ships can carry the rigs from their construction site to a drilling site at roughly three to four times the speed of a self-deploying rig). Rapid deployment of the rig to the drilling site can translate into major savings to the oil industry. They also transport other outsized cargo and yachts.
The U.S. Navy
United States Navy
The United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...
has used such ships to bring two damaged warships back to the United States for repair. The first was the guided missile frigate , which was nearly sunk by a naval mine
Naval mine
A naval mine is a self-contained explosive device placed in water to destroy surface ships or submarines. Unlike depth charges, mines are deposited and left to wait until they are triggered by the approach of, or contact with, an enemy vessel...
in the central Persian Gulf
Persian Gulf
The Persian Gulf, in Southwest Asia, is an extension of the Indian Ocean located between Iran and the Arabian Peninsula.The Persian Gulf was the focus of the 1980–1988 Iran-Iraq War, in which each side attacked the other's oil tankers...
on 14 April 1988. The frigate was towed to Dubai
Dubai
Dubai is a city and emirate in the United Arab Emirates . The emirate is located south of the Persian Gulf on the Arabian Peninsula and has the largest population with the second-largest land territory by area of all the emirates, after Abu Dhabi...
, then floated home to Newport, Rhode Island
Newport, Rhode Island
Newport is a city on Aquidneck Island in Newport County, Rhode Island, United States, about south of Providence. Known as a New England summer resort and for the famous Newport Mansions, it is the home of Salve Regina University and Naval Station Newport which houses the United States Naval War...
, aboard Mighty Servant 2
Mighty Servant 2
Mighty Servant 2 was a 29,000-ton heavy-lift ship operated by Dockwise, noted for transporting from Dubai to Newport, Rhode Island, in 1988.The ship was built in 1983 by Oshima Shipbuilding Co. Ltd...
.
Eleven years later, transported the U.S. guided missile destroyer from Aden
Aden
Aden is a seaport city in Yemen, located by the eastern approach to the Red Sea , some 170 kilometres east of Bab-el-Mandeb. Its population is approximately 800,000. Aden's ancient, natural harbour lies in the crater of an extinct volcano which now forms a peninsula, joined to the mainland by a...
, Yemen
Yemen
The Republic of Yemen , commonly known as Yemen , is a country located in the Middle East, occupying the southwestern to southern end of the Arabian Peninsula. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to the north, the Red Sea to the west, and Oman to the east....
to Pascagoula, Mississippi
Pascagoula, Mississippi
Pascagoula is a city in Jackson County, Mississippi, United States. It is the principal city of the Pascagoula, Mississippi Metropolitan Statistical Area, as a part of the Gulfport–Biloxi–Pascagoula, Mississippi Combined Statistical Area. The population was 26,200 at the 2000 census...
, after the warship was damaged in a bombing attack
USS Cole bombing
The USS Cole Bombing, or the USS Cole Incident, was a suicide attack against the United States Navy destroyer on October 12, 2000 while it was harbored and refueled in the Yemeni port of Aden. Seventeen American sailors were killed, and 39 were injured...
on 12 October 2000.
The U.S. Navy has also chartered other heavy lift ships to carry smaller craft, usually mine-countermeasure craft, or other patrol craft. Since there are no US-flagged heavy lift/flo/flo ships, the U.S. Navy normally relies on its Military Sealift Command to charter them from the world commercial market.
In 2004, Blue Marlin carried the world's largest semi-submersible oil platform, BP
BP
BP p.l.c. is a global oil and gas company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It is the third-largest energy company and fourth-largest company in the world measured by revenues and one of the six oil and gas "supermajors"...
's Thunder Horse PDQ
Thunder Horse PDQ
Thunder Horse PDQ is a BP plc and ExxonMobil joint venture semi-submersible oil platform on location over the Mississippi Canyon Thunder Horse oil field , in deepwater Gulf of Mexico, southeast of New Orleans, moored in waters of...
, from the Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering
Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering
Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering Co., Ltd ' is the second largest shipbuilder in the world and one of the "Big Three" shipbuilders of South Korea.On 21 February 2011, the A. P...
(DMSE) shipyard in South Korea
South Korea
The Republic of Korea , , is a sovereign state in East Asia, located on the southern portion of the Korean Peninsula. It is neighbored by the People's Republic of China to the west, Japan to the east, North Korea to the north, and the East China Sea and Republic of China to the south...
to Kiewit Offshore Services in Ingleside, Texas
Ingleside, Texas
Ingleside is a town in Nueces and San Patricio Counties in the U.S. state of Texas. The population was 9,388 at the 2000 census.Ingleside is also home to Naval Station Ingleside. On August 24, 2005, the BRAC Committee voted to close the base. In 2010, the main base property was turned over to the...
.
Many of the larger ships of this class are owned by the company Dockwise
Dockwise
-History:Dockwise was formed in September 1993 by the merger of two complementary companies, Wijsmuller Transport and Dock Express Shipping , becoming the world's largest seagoing heavy transport shipping company. The combined company operated from a new headquarters in Meer , Belgium...
, including Mighty Servant 1
Mighty Servant 1
Mighty Servant 1 is a 29,000-ton heavy-lift ship capable of carrying very large vessels and offshore platforms. built for Dutch shipping firm Wijsmuller Transport, which merged in 1993 with Dock Express Shipping to become Breda-based offshore heavy lifting group, Dockwise Shipping B.V...
, , and . In 2004, Dockwise increased the deck width of Blue Marlin, to make it the largest heavy transport carrier in the world. One of the company's vessels has been lost in recent years: Mighty Servant 2
Mighty Servant 2
Mighty Servant 2 was a 29,000-ton heavy-lift ship operated by Dockwise, noted for transporting from Dubai to Newport, Rhode Island, in 1988.The ship was built in 1983 by Oshima Shipbuilding Co. Ltd...
which capsized after hitting an uncharted underwater obstacle off Indonesia in November 1999.