Largest Ship in the World

Largest Ship in the World: The Seawise Giant is the biggest ship ever built. It was constructed in 1979 and was much larger than any other ship at the time. The Seawise Giant was almost 500 meters long, making it longer than the Eiffel Tower lying on its side. It could hold over 550,000 tonnes of oil in its huge storage tanks.

Today, we are going to discuss the Largest Ship in the World.

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Largest Ship in the World – Overview

The Seawise Giant, built in 1979, is the longest and biggest ship ever made. It is almost a quarter mile long – that’s super huge! Fully loaded, it weighs over half a million tons. Even 40 years later, no other ship has matched its massive size and capacity. Originally, the Seawise Giant was built to carry over 550,000 tons of oil in one trip. Building and running this giant ship took incredible engineering and planning. The Seawise Giant had two massive steam engines that could go 16 knots. Because of its gigantic size, it had trouble fitting through narrow waterways like the Suez and Panama Canals. Its draft of almost 25 meters meant that ports had to be specially dredged for the ship to enter. Over the years with different owners and names, the Seawise Giant transported unbelievable amounts of oil around the world. It was a real behemoth of the seas.

Name:	Seawise Giant
Type:	Ultra Large Crude Carrier (ULCC) oil tanker
Built:	1979
Broken up:	2010
Length:	458.45 m (1,504 ft)
Beam:	68.8 m (226 ft)
Draft:	24.6 m (81 ft)
Tonnage:	260,941 GT

Largest Ship in the World – Key Facts

Here are the major facts of the Largest Ship in the World as mentioned below.

• Built-in 1979 in Japan, it was originally named Jahre Viking and designed to transport oil
• Length of 1,504 feet, making it one of the longest ships ever constructed
• Deadweight of over 650,000 tons, able to carry around 4.1 million barrels of oil
• Crew capacity of just 45 people to operate the massive vessel
• Name changed to Seawise Giant in 1988
• Anchored outside Shah, Iran in 1988 when struck by an Iraqi warplane during the Iran-Iraq War
• Repaired and renamed Happy Giant in 1991, but remained unused
• Scrapped in 2010 in India after over 30 years of interrupted service
• Still holds records as the heaviest and longest self-propelled vessel ever built

Exterior

Here is the exterior specification of The Seawise Giant as mentioned below.

• Enormous size – At 458 meters long and 68 meters wide, it is the longest and largest ship ever built.
• Giant propeller – It has a single, 6-bladed propeller over 9 meters in diameter to propel its massive bulk.
• Bow thruster – To aid maneuverability, it has a 4,500 horsepower bow thruster at the front to push the bow side to side.
• High freeboard – Tall sides for an oil tanker allow it to hold more cargo with less surface area. It has a freeboard of nearly 24 meters.

Interior

Here is the interior specification of The Seawise Giant as mentioned below.

• Vast cargo tanks – The interior is dominated by multiple longitudinal, sloped cargo tanks spanning its length that give it a cargo capacity of over 550,000 tonnes.
• Engine room – Its below deck engine room houses two massive 13,500 horsepower steam turbine power plants to drive its single propeller shaft.
• Crew facilities – Being too wide for a full deck width superstructure, crew and navigation facilities are clustered around the rear funnel and engine casing.
• Dogleg design – The tanks utilize a dogleg design to maximize capacity and improve flow to pumping systems. This enabled incredibly fast loading rates despite its size.

The sheer scale of the engineering feat accomplished in the Seawise Giant’s design and construction produced a vessel that remained unmatched in cargo capacity for nearly 40 years until it was scrapped in 2010. Its massive dimensions contributed to operational difficulties that ultimately limited its lifespan.

Top 10 Largest Ships In The World – By Length

Here are the top ten largest ships in the world by length as mentioned below.

Rank	Ship Name	Year Built	Gross Tonnage	Length (m)	Beam (m)	Staterooms	Passenger Capacity
1	Symphony of the Seas	2018	228,081 3	362	47	2,759	6,680
2	Wonder of the Seas	2022	236,857	362	64	2,815	6,988
3	Harmony of the Seas	2016	226,963	362	47	2,747	6,780
4	Allure of the Seas	2010	225,282	361	47	2,706	6,410
5	Oasis of the Seas	2009	225,282	361	47	2,706	6,29
6	AIDAnova	2018	183,900	337	42	2,600	6,654
7	Costa Smeralda	2019	183,900	337	42	2,612	6,554
8	MSC World Europa	2022	205,700	333	47	2,626	6,761
9	Queen Mary 2	2004	148,528	345	41	1,253	2,620
10	Norwegian Epic	2010	155,873	329	41	1,721	4,100

Largest Ships of the World – Previous

Here are the top ten previous largest ships in the world as mentioned below.

Rank	Ship Name	Year Built	Gross Tonnage	Length (m)	Beam (m)	Staterooms	Passenger Capacity
1	RMS Queen Elizabeth	1940	83,673	314	36	789	2,139
2	SS France	1962	66,348	316	29	567	1,944
3	RMS Queen Mary	1936	81,237	314	36	784	1,957
4	SS Norway	1960	76,049	308	33	804	2,140
5	RMS Lusitania	1907	31,550	239	26	597	1,960
6	RMS Titanic	1912	46,328	269	28	325	1,514
7	SS Imperator	1913	52,226	270	29	608	1,972
8	RMS Olympic	1911	45,324	269	28	304	1,450
9	RMS Carpathia	1903	13,603	171	20	218	1,700
10	RMS Mauretania	1907	31,938	240	27	394	1,972

Is Titanic the Largest Ship in the World?

The Titanic was not the largest ship at the time or in history. Its size was 46,328 tons. The largest cruise ship is Symphony of the Seas. It has a size of 228,081 tons. The largest overall ship is Seawise Giant. So, the Titanic was smaller than them. Over time, tankers and cargo ships have been built much larger. While Titanic’s sinking made it famous, it is not the largest ship ever considering modern vessels.

Largest Luxury Cruise Ship in the World

Symphony of the Seas is the world’s largest luxury cruise ship. It can accommodate 6680 passengers one at a time. It has 24 pools, theaters, restaurants, bars, water slides, and a rock-climbing wall, Its standout attractions include a three-deck Central Park and sea-walking glass balconies.

Largest Navy Ship in the World

The USS Gerald R. Ford is the world’s largest warship and is a United States Navy aircraft carrier. It a weigh over 100,000 tons and 333 meters long. It has three nuclear reactors with the electromagnetic launch system. It can carry 75+ aircraft with reduced crew needs thanks to advanced automation.

Conclusion

Built in 1979, the Seawise Giant remains the largest ship ever constructed at an awe-inspiring 458 meters long and 68 meters wide. With a cargo capacity over 550,000 tonnes, this Ultra Large Crude Carrier held the incredible record of being the longest and largest operating ship for nearly 40 years straight between 1979 to 2017 when it was broken up.

The giant vessel’s enormous scale brought both record-breaking capacity as well as operational difficulties that ultimately led to its retirement. Its massive size outpaced the capabilities of even newly expanded waterways and ports during its lifetime under various owners. But the Seawise Giant retains its place in history as a groundbreaking engineering feat unlikely to ever be surpassed in overall size. The largest ship to ever sail the seas continues to inspirational innovation in maritime design and construction to this day.

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Largest Cruise Ship in the World

FAQs – Largest Ship in the World

What is world’s largest ship?

The Seawise Giant is the largest ship in the world by length, displacement and deadweight tonnage ever constructed. Built in 1979 at the Oppama shipyard in Japan, it was originally delivered as the Happy Giant oil tanker with a length of 458 meters.

What is the world’s largest ship in 2024?

The Icon of the Seas is the first of Royal Caribbean International’s Icon class. At 250,800 gross tons, the vessel will claim the title of the largest cruise ship on the planet, edging out the line’s Wonder of the Seas in the Oasis class.

Which ship is bigger than Titanic?

Icon of the Seas. The Titanic in 1912 was more than 852 feet long, with 46,329 gross tonnage. The Icon of the Seas’ tonnage is five times that of the Titanic.

What ship has the biggest capacity?

The largest cruise ship, Icon of the Seas, has a gross tonnage of 248,336, is 365 metres (1,198 ft) long and holds up to 7,600 passengers.

Is Titanic still the biggest ship?

The world’s largest ship, the Icon of the Seas, dwarfs the Titanic, which once held the same title. The Titanic and the Icon of the Seas have both held the title of the world’s biggest ship.

How big is the Titanic ship?

The Titanic was a massive ship—883 feet long, 92 feet wide, and displacing (or weighing) 52,310 long tons (a long ton is 2240 pounds). It was 175 feet tall from the keel to the top of the four stacks or funnels, almost 35 feet of which was below the waterline.