Home > Science Fact Finder > Cars, Boats, Planes, and Trains - What Is The World's Largest Ship?

Cars, Boats, Planes, and Trains - What Is The World's Largest Ship?

What is the world's largest ship?

The largest ship ever constructed was the Happy Giant, formerly called the Seawise Giant, with a deadweight tonnage (the weight of the ship without its load) of 622,571.5, a length of 1,504 feet (458 meters), and a beam (width) of 226 feet (69 meters). Attacked and damaged by Iraqi Mirage jets in the Persian Gulf on December 22, 1987, and again on May 14, 1988, the tanker is in the process of being repaired. The steam turbines are being replaced with a diesel engine, which will decrease the ship's deadweight tonnage to about 420,000 long tons (one long ton is equal to 2,240 pounds).

The largest ship of any kind currently in service is the tanker Hellas Fos, owned by the Bilinder Marine Corporation of Athens, Greece. Built in 1979, this steam turbine tanker has a deadweight tonnage of 611,832.5 and a gross registered tonnage of 254,583 (gross registered tonnage is...

[The entire page is 370 words long]

Join eNotes

The above is a free excerpt. Get total access to this content with the: