Seawise Giant was ordered in 1974 and delivered in 1979 by Sumitomo Heavy Industries, Ltd. at its Oppama shipyard in Yokosuka, Kanagawa, Japan, as a 418,611-ton Ultra Large Crude Carrier. The vessel remained unnamed for a long time, and was identified by her hull number, 1016. During sea trials, 1016 exhibited severe vibration problems while going astern. The Greek owner refused to take delivery and the vessel was subject to a lengthy arbitration proceeding. Following settlement the vessel was sold and named Oppama by S.H.I. , and. The shipyard exercised its right to sell the vessel and a deal was brokered with Hong KongOrient Overseas Container Line founder C. Y. Tung to lengthen the ship by several metres and add 146,152 tonnes of cargo capacity through jumboisation. Two years later the ship was relaunched as Seawise Giant. "Seawise", a pun on "C.Y.'s", was used in the names of other ships owned by C.Y. Tung, including Seawise University. After the refit, the ship had a capacity of, a length overall of and a draft of. It had 46 tanks, and of deck space. When Seawise Giant was fully loaded, the ship sank too deep into the water to safely navigate the English Channel. Its draft of 25 meters or 81 feet was too great for the relatively shallow waters of the Channel. The rudder weighed 230 tons, and the propeller weighed 50 tons. Seawise Giant was damaged and sunk during the 1980–1988 Iran–Iraq War by an Iraqi Air Force attack while anchored off Larak Island, Iran on 14 May 1988 and carrying Iranian crude oil. The ship was struck by parachute bombs. Fires ignited aboard the ship and blazed out of control, and it sank in the shallow waters off the coast. The ship was declared a total loss and was written off. Shortly after the Iran–Iraq war ended, Norman International bought the shipwreck, salvaged and repaired it. The ship was renamed Happy Giant after the repairs. These repairs were done at the Keppel Corporation shipyard in Singapore after towing the vessel from the Persian Gulf. It entered service in October 1991 as Happy Giant. Jørgen Jahre bought the tanker in 1991 for US$39 million and renamed her as Jahre Viking. From 1991 to 2004, it was owned by Loki Stream and flew the flag of Norway. In 2004, the tanker was purchased by First Olsen Tankers, renamed Knock Nevis, and converted into a permanently moored storage tanker in the Qatar Al ShaheenOil Field in the Persian Gulf. Knock Nevis was renamed Mont'', and reflagged to Sierra Leone by new owners Amber Development for a final voyage to India where it was scrapped by Priyablue Industries. The vessel was beached on 22 December 2009. The ship's 36 tonne anchor was saved and sent to the Hong Kong Maritime Museum for exhibition.
Size record
Seawise Giant was the longest ship ever constructed, at 458.45 m, longer than the height of many of the world's tallest buildings. Although slightly smaller than Taipei 101's, she was larger than the Petronas Towers'. Despite a great length, Seawise Giant was not the largest ship by gross tonnage, ranking sixth at 260,941 GT, behind the crane shipPioneering Spirit and the four 274,838 to 275,276 GT Batillus-class supertankers. She is the longest and largest by deadweight: 564,763 tonnes. Seawise Giant was featured on the BBC series Jeremy Clarkson's Extreme Machines while sailing as Jahre Viking. According to its captain, S. K. Mohan, the ship could reach up to in good weather. It took for the ship to stop from that speed], and the turning circle in clear weather was about.
