Comments on: Big Ass Ships for Big Ass Loads

Big Ass Ships for Big Ass Loads

Brandon Blatcher — Fri, 09 Feb 2007 20:43:46 -0800

They are capable of loading lifts from approximately 50 to as much as 45,000 tons.

By: nathancaswell

nathancaswell — Fri, 09 Feb 2007 20:47:45 -0800

golf clap

By: kuujjuarapik

kuujjuarapik — Fri, 09 Feb 2007 21:02:43 -0800

Not shown on this blog is the ship that carried the cubic mile of cash dollar bills in the world's biggest Hefty from Basra to Houston.

By: Anything

Anything — Fri, 09 Feb 2007 21:10:42 -0800

holy crap

By: rtha

rtha — Fri, 09 Feb 2007 21:11:48 -0800

Cool.

By: weretable and the undead chairs

weretable and the undead chairs — Fri, 09 Feb 2007 21:12:24 -0800

Jeezus that's some cool shit.

By: strawberryviagra

strawberryviagra — Fri, 09 Feb 2007 21:12:36 -0800

A sad end ...

By: Eideteker

Eideteker — Fri, 09 Feb 2007 21:16:01 -0800

"According to Wikipedia, a semi-submersible heavy-lift ship, or also known as a "flo/flo" (for float-on/float-off), has a long and low well deck between a forward pilot house and an after machinery space." Alright, already. We all float-on. What's the big deal? [this is cool] I want a toy one for bathtime!

By: spiderskull

spiderskull — Fri, 09 Feb 2007 21:16:07 -0800

That is incredible. Good link!

By: Tenuki

Tenuki — Fri, 09 Feb 2007 21:16:45 -0800

Load balancing must be fun.

By: flarbuse

flarbuse — Fri, 09 Feb 2007 21:16:46 -0800

Awesome, though I have to say that I actually - for a moment - thought that the first ship pictured on there was made out of Legos.

By: speug

speug — Fri, 09 Feb 2007 21:17:30 -0800

Magnificent! Thanks for finding this.

By: Eideteker

Eideteker — Fri, 09 Feb 2007 21:19:38 -0800

Ohhhh, you won't you take me home tonight Ohhhh, down beneath the blue starlight Ohhhh, you got to give it all you got Fat-bottomed boats, you make the maritime world go 'round C'mon, oil rigs, get on your boats and ride! Sorry, I'll leave now.

By: Astro Zombie

Astro Zombie — Fri, 09 Feb 2007 21:21:53 -0800

You move 45,000 tons, and what do you get?

By: mullacc

mullacc — Fri, 09 Feb 2007 21:23:48 -0800

I knew the Illuminati were stealing oil with their invisible oil rigs.

By: jonmc

jonmc — Fri, 09 Feb 2007 21:24:05 -0800

An eon older and deeper in wet?

By: Eideteker

Eideteker — Fri, 09 Feb 2007 21:24:51 -0800

"You move 45,000 tons, and what do you get?" Another day older, and deeper, and wet.

By: Eideteker

Eideteker — Fri, 09 Feb 2007 21:25:08 -0800

Dammit, jon!

By: jonmc

jonmc — Fri, 09 Feb 2007 21:27:54 -0800

*does Ickey Shuffle in endzone*

By: Astro Zombie

Astro Zombie — Fri, 09 Feb 2007 21:31:38 -0800

Well played, sir.

By: b1tr0t

b1tr0t — Fri, 09 Feb 2007 21:33:20 -0800

Related, but different. The FLIP ship, flipping.

By: SinisterPurpose

SinisterPurpose — Fri, 09 Feb 2007 21:37:22 -0800

Very similar to your vaparators in most respects.

By: Jimbob

Jimbob — Fri, 09 Feb 2007 21:38:01 -0800

Does anyone else find it strangely peverse to observe a ship on top of another ship?

By: Astro Zombie

Astro Zombie — Fri, 09 Feb 2007 21:55:11 -0800

How do I put this, Jimbob ... it's something that grownup ships do when they really, really love each other ... Oh, this is awkward. They should teach this in school.

By: c:\awesome

c:\awesome — Fri, 09 Feb 2007 21:56:20 -0800

that was c:\awesome, thanks.

By: lekvar

lekvar — Fri, 09 Feb 2007 22:01:40 -0800

For the first two or three I thought the photos were all Photoshopped. The reality is even more awesome than the fakes.

By: popechunk

popechunk — Fri, 09 Feb 2007 22:03:44 -0800

I was present when the Mighty Servant delivered the Samuel B Roberts to Newport, RI in the late 1980s. I went there (on a boat full of retired US Marines) to watch the Mighty Servant sink, and the Sammy B rise off its deck. When the Sammy B proceeded to the docks under its own power (no small miracle), slipping past the tugs arrayed to greet it, all of the crusty 50 year old Marines wept and snapped to attention, returning the salute of its crew. It was pretty astoundingly awesome.

By: rolypolyman

rolypolyman — Fri, 09 Feb 2007 22:24:11 -0800

Oddly enough my main reaction is "holy shit, how the hell do we get that much metal out of the ground?"

By: wfrgms

wfrgms — Fri, 09 Feb 2007 22:30:48 -0800

in ur seas
   __|`|          |"/
~~~\   |~~~~~~~~~~|/'~~~
    \_____________/
liftn ur stuff

By: phylum sinter

phylum sinter — Fri, 09 Feb 2007 22:31:30 -0800

I knew i was fat when upon taking my first dip in the Atlantic, one of these babies snuck under my belly [joyously bobbin' in the sea] and took me to Corpus Christi for completion. Also that's mighty insane that they'd make a metal refinery in one nation and deliver it in another via megaboat. Golf claps indeed.

By: Steven C. Den Beste

Steven C. Den Beste — Fri, 09 Feb 2007 22:44:44 -0800

That's a modern version (and clearly an improved version) of what was known fifty years ago as a "floating drydock". Tenuki, load balancing is not hard at all. They use uneven flooding of the floatation tanks in order to trim the ship.

By: clockzero

clockzero — Fri, 09 Feb 2007 22:48:42 -0800

One of those rare supervehicles that amazes in real life but would have made a crappy Transformer.

By: cenoxo

cenoxo — Fri, 09 Feb 2007 23:08:26 -0800

Semi-Submersible Crane Vessels — the world's largest is the twin-crane Thialf, owned and operated by Heerema Marine Contractors (they introduced the SSCV concept in 1978). Together, the Thialf's cranes can lift over 14,200 metric tons. More images of this giant here and here. Speaking of extreme marine lifting, Project Jennifer^WP was a noteworthy secret CIA mission during the Cold War. More Glomar Explorer images here.

By: brundlefly

brundlefly — Sat, 10 Feb 2007 00:05:25 -0800

*nerdy squeal*

By: amyms

amyms — Sat, 10 Feb 2007 00:12:57 -0800

Amazing pictures, thanks.

By: Tenuki

Tenuki — Sat, 10 Feb 2007 00:23:19 -0800

Floating Drydock (CG)

By: serazin

serazin — Sat, 10 Feb 2007 00:24:52 -0800

Holy Fuck!

By: Tenuki

Tenuki — Sat, 10 Feb 2007 00:25:57 -0800

Some background on that image.

By: ctmf

ctmf — Sat, 10 Feb 2007 00:31:32 -0800

I would have liked more detail on the sinkings. Like, why did they sink? Did they screw up, run into some bad weather, is the design not quite as safe as it should be? I imagine some of those loads are quite expensive, not to mention the cost of the ship in the first place. Marked for googling later.

By: sexyrobot

sexyrobot — Sat, 10 Feb 2007 00:44:42 -0800

pft...i could roll that up, easy. *na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na*

By: macrowave

macrowave — Sat, 10 Feb 2007 01:19:15 -0800

Oddly enough my main reaction is "holy shit, how the hell do we get that much metal out of the ground?" After a year of so of lurking, I just paid Metafilter $5 to comment on your comment. I think about this constantly! If we made a mountain out of all the industrial metal and highway cement, how high would it be?

By: macrowave

macrowave — Sat, 10 Feb 2007 01:21:44 -0800

typo on the first try. whatever.

By: 6am

6am — Sat, 10 Feb 2007 01:57:52 -0800

sweet. I've saw one of these when sailing across the english channel - it had a massive submarine on its back, like this . I took a photo as well, I'll post it if I can find it.

By: Rhomboid

Rhomboid — Sat, 10 Feb 2007 03:16:21 -0800

For some reason I'm reminded of a very old Earthworm Jim video game, where there is a certain level where you have to lift and carry very large and heavy cows.

By: elpapacito

elpapacito — Sat, 10 Feb 2007 03:29:26 -0800

HA HA ! I laugh at your puny rubber duckie lolo jeylo ship and I give You Emma Mærsk. Salute your container overlady. Quoting from the link

it often now costs more to ship a container by road 100km from a port to its final destination than it does to move the container by sea from China to Europe.

Why don't we just go live in ports so they can throw me container directly in the kitchen.

By: evilcolonel

evilcolonel — Sat, 10 Feb 2007 03:54:29 -0800

Float... float on...

By: Smedleyman

Smedleyman — Sat, 10 Feb 2007 04:56:19 -0800

Aww, 45,000 tons is pretty heavy....I guess.

By: papercake

papercake — Sat, 10 Feb 2007 05:09:19 -0800

Apparently this ship is also useful for carrying Rodan's eggs.

By: Busithoth

Busithoth — Sat, 10 Feb 2007 06:24:21 -0800

Huh, and I thought the Cole returned to the US under her own power (post-patching). Guess I was distracted by the coup... these are great behemoths, reminders of what humans can achieve. I'd love to see one in action.

By: Frank Grimes

Frank Grimes — Sat, 10 Feb 2007 06:33:26 -0800

My yacht has one of these sea giants as its dinghy.

By: Skygazer

Skygazer — Sat, 10 Feb 2007 06:55:11 -0800

This is one eerie and surreal photo. Thx, BB.

By: stbalbach

stbalbach — Sat, 10 Feb 2007 07:09:02 -0800

50 to as much as 45,000 tons. What happens below 50 tons?

By: blackkar

blackkar — Sat, 10 Feb 2007 07:23:49 -0800

Just like supermodels, they refuse to get out of port for less than 50 a day...

By: graventy

graventy — Sat, 10 Feb 2007 07:42:00 -0800

Yet again, a metafilter post answers questions I did not know I had.

By: cenoxo

cenoxo — Sat, 10 Feb 2007 07:58:33 -0800

elpapacito said: ...and I give You Emma Mærsk. ...which is powered by the world's largest diesel engine, the 14-cylinder (each with a bore of 38") turbo-charged Wärtsilä-Sulzer RTA96-C. Here are images of a smaller 10-cylinder version: check out that crankshaft. Looks like the current grande dame of container ships will lose her crown in a few years to a 13,000 TEU* vessel. Details from GlobalSecurity.org:

In September 2005 an innovative design study for a 13,000 TEU container ship was presented by Germanischer Lloyd and the Korean yard Hyundai Heavy Industries (HHI). The new ship design with two main engines and two propellers. All the relevant calculations have been carried out and the design completely approved by Germanischer Lloyd; the Korean yard is now accepting orders. The ship is 382 metres long and 54.2 metres wide, and has a draft of 13.5 m. The 6,230 containers below deck are stacked in 10 tiers and 19 rows, while the 7,210 deck containers are stowed in 21 rows. Powered by two 45,000 kW engines, the vessel's speed is 25.5 knots. The design study is characterized by two technical innovations: the cooperation partners decided on a twin drive configuration and the separation of deckhouse and engine room.

*TEU = twenty-foot equivalent units, a standard 20 ft. (L) × 8 ft. (W) × 8 ft. 6 in. (H) ISO container dimension. The way container ships are going, some day your kitchen (along with the rest of your house) may be aboard one of them.

By: ROU_Xenophobe

ROU_Xenophobe — Sat, 10 Feb 2007 08:00:01 -0800

Flo-flo -- apply directly to well deck! Flo-flo -- apply directly to well deck! Flo-flo -- apply directly to well deck!

By: obfusciatrist

obfusciatrist — Sat, 10 Feb 2007 09:15:08 -0800

In the San Francisco Bay Area we got to see one of these in operation a few years ago when some very tall cranes were delivered to the Port of Oakland and the combination of low tide and submersability were needed to guarantee getting them under the Bay Bridge. That was an awesome view from my office at the time, watching them go under with just inches to spare. Of course, I'm still not clear why it is cheaper to build the crane in Korea (I think) and then ship it on a big special boat halfway around the world than to simply build it on site. I also missed how they got the cranes off the boat.

By: cenoxo

cenoxo — Sat, 10 Feb 2007 09:21:41 -0800

rolypolyman said: Oddly enough my main reaction is "holy shit, how the hell do we get that much metal out of the ground?" macrowave said: After a year of so of lurking, I just paid Metafilter $5 to comment on your comment. I think about this constantly! If we made a mountain out of all the industrial metal and highway cement, how high would it be? Ask China: they're finding out:

The Oil Drum graph: Annual production of cement by country in billions of metric tons.

WorldWatch Institute graph: Top Five Steel-Producing Countries, 1994-2004.

Asia Times article: Chinese shipping aims for global leadership.

However big that mountain of stuff turns out to be, China plans on having the ships to haul it.

By: Brandon Blatcher

Brandon Blatcher — Sat, 10 Feb 2007 09:39:56 -0800

I'm waiting for one of the rap stars to pull up to Grammy's in one of these.

By: A dead Quaker

A dead Quaker — Sat, 10 Feb 2007 10:06:16 -0800

I would like to roll one of these up in my katamari.

By: jason's_planet

jason's_planet — Sat, 10 Feb 2007 10:14:38 -0800

whoahhhhhh.

By: Faint of Butt

Faint of Butt — Sat, 10 Feb 2007 11:01:13 -0800

Big boats Have bigger boats Beneath their decks to float 'em And bigger boats Have huger boats (I spilled coffee on my modem)

By: quin

quin — Sat, 10 Feb 2007 11:58:12 -0800

Here's the plan: we get one of these, and start stealing shit. Seriously. Oil rigs, cruise ships, whatever. We sneak up, grab them out of the water, take them to our secret island fortress, and ransom them back to their rightful owners. As long as they don't send Bond in, we should be fine.

By: dammitjim

dammitjim — Sat, 10 Feb 2007 12:38:56 -0800

Here are images of a smaller 10-cylinder version: check out that crankshaft. Oh, BABY! Woo! Show us your cylinders!

By: 3.2.3

3.2.3 — Sun, 11 Feb 2007 11:42:53 -0800

a counterpart to the flo-flo is the jack-up barge. a jack-up barge is a ship which can extend four jacks down to the ocean floor and lift itself above the surface of the water, kind of like a temporary platform you can pilot into place without a flo-flo. you can even buy one used with jacks up to 120 meters tall. obviously, jack-up barges are limited to coastal waters. but they are used for making some ocean platform and tower repairs where depth permits.