Mighty Servant 3
Encyclopedia
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Mighty Servant 3 is a 27,000-ton semi-submersible
heavy lift ship
. Its deck is 40 metres wide and 140 metres long. The vessel was built in 1984 by Oshima Shipbuilding Co. Ltd.
in Oshima
, Japan
, 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.
s and drilling industry related gear. When loading its mammoth burdens, the ship takes thousands of gallons of water into ballast tanks, sinking its cargo deck underwater. The cargo is floated into position, whereupon the Mighty Servant 3 will slowly pump out its ballast, lifting the deck up to sailing position.
The vessel is capable of carrying the heaviest semi-submersible drilling units, harsh-environment deep-water jack-up rigs and large floating production tension-leg platform
s, semi-submersible
s and spars with drafts of up to 14 metres.
, Angola
, while offloading the drilling platform Aleutian Key. During submerging to unload cargo, the ship developed a list and continued to submerge beyond design limits. There were no casualties, nor damage to the transported platform. After 5 months of resting on the seabed, it was salvaged by Smit International
and handed back to its owners on 26 May 2007. She was transported to Cape Town for repairs, arriving on Sunday 17 June 2007. In August 2009, after an extensive rebuild, she was returned to service.
equipment and used in the cleanup of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill
in the Gulf of Mexico.
Semi-submersible
A semi-submersible is a specialised marine vessel with good stability and seakeeping characteristics. The semi-submersible vessel design is commonly used in a number of specific offshore roles such as for offshore drilling rigs, safety vessels, oil production platforms and heavy lift cranes.The...
heavy lift ship
Heavy lift ship
A heavy lift ship is a vessel 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...
. Its deck is 40 metres wide and 140 metres long. The vessel was built in 1984 by Oshima Shipbuilding Co. Ltd.
Oshima Shipbuilding
Oshima Shipbuilding Co., Ltd. is a privately held Japanese shipbuilding company. The company was founded on February 7, 1973 and began operations in June 1974. It is a joint venture between Sumitomo Corporation, Sumitomo Heavy Industries, and the Daizo Corporation.-History:Oshima launched its...
in Oshima
Oshima
-Places: :** Nii Ōshima Island, part of Niihama in Ehime Prefecture** Ōshima, Ehime, an island connected by the Hakata-Ōshima Bridge and the Kurushima-Kaikyo Bridge...
, Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
, for Dutch shipping firm Wijsmuller Transport, which merged in 1993 with Dock Express Shipping to become Breda
Breda
Breda is a municipality and a city in the southern part of the Netherlands. The name Breda derived from brede Aa and refers to the confluence of the rivers Mark and Aa. As a fortified city, the city was of strategic military and political significance...
-based offshore heavy lifting group Dockwise Shipping B.V.
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...
Service
Most of the cargo transported by Mighty Servant 3 are oil platformOil 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...
s and drilling industry related gear. When loading its mammoth burdens, the ship takes thousands of gallons of water into ballast tanks, sinking its cargo deck underwater. The cargo is floated into position, whereupon the Mighty Servant 3 will slowly pump out its ballast, lifting the deck up to sailing position.
The vessel is capable of carrying the heaviest semi-submersible drilling units, harsh-environment deep-water jack-up rigs and large floating production tension-leg platform
Tension-leg platform
A Tension-leg platform or Extended Tension Leg Platform is a vertically moored floating structure normally used for the offshore production of oil or gas, and is particularly suited for water depths greater than 300 metres and less than 1500 meters...
s, semi-submersible
Semi-submersible
A semi-submersible is a specialised marine vessel with good stability and seakeeping characteristics. The semi-submersible vessel design is commonly used in a number of specific offshore roles such as for offshore drilling rigs, safety vessels, oil production platforms and heavy lift cranes.The...
s and spars with drafts of up to 14 metres.
Sinking and return to service
On 6 December 2006 Mighty Servant 3 sank in 62 meters of water near the port of LuandaLuanda
Luanda, formerly named São Paulo da Assunção de Loanda, is the capital and largest city of Angola. Located on Angola's coast with the Atlantic Ocean, Luanda is both Angola's chief seaport and its administrative center. It has a population of at least 5 million...
, Angola
Angola
Angola, officially the Republic of Angola , is a country in south-central Africa bordered by Namibia on the south, the Democratic Republic of the Congo on the north, and Zambia on the east; its west coast is on the Atlantic Ocean with Luanda as its capital city...
, while offloading the drilling platform Aleutian Key. During submerging to unload cargo, the ship developed a list and continued to submerge beyond design limits. There were no casualties, nor damage to the transported platform. After 5 months of resting on the seabed, it was salvaged by Smit International
Smit International
Smit Internationale N.V. is a Dutch company operating in the maritime sector. The company was founded in 1842 by Fop Smit as a towage company with only the 140 hp paddle steamer tug 'Kinderdijk'....
and handed back to its owners on 26 May 2007. She was transported to Cape Town for repairs, arriving on Sunday 17 June 2007. In August 2009, after an extensive rebuild, she was returned to service.
Post-return service
In 2010, Mighty Servant 3 was outfitted with oil skimmingSkimmer (machine)
An oil skimmer is a machine that separates a liquid from particles floating on it or from another liquid. A common application is removing oil floating on water. These technologies are commonly used for oil spill remediation but are also commonly found in industry...
equipment and used in the cleanup of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill
Deepwater Horizon oil spill
The Deepwater Horizon oil spill is an oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico which flowed unabated for three months in 2010, and continues to leak fresh oil. It is the largest accidental marine oil spill in the history of the petroleum industry...
in the Gulf of Mexico.
See also
- Mighty Servant 1Mighty Servant 1Mighty 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...
- Mighty Servant 2Mighty Servant 2Mighty 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...
, a semi-submersible that carried after the destroyer was attacked by suicide bombers.