This is now Earth's largest ship—so big it can lift oil rigs off the sea

This is now Earth's largest ship—so big it can lift oil rigs off the sea


This is the Pieter Schelte, which is now the largest ship sailing the seas, surpassing even the Maersk Triple-E*. Built by Daewoo in Korea, this catamaran is so huge that it can lift entire oil platforms off their base, pick up the base itself, and then transport it all to port—which is exactly what it's designed to do.



This is how it works:


Lifting and removing the platform



Removing the jacket (the base of the rig)



Transporting the entire thing



This is why this 1,253 x 384 feet (382 x 117 meters) $1.7-billion titan is powered by eight 11.2 megawatt engines connected to 13 Rolls Royce 5.5 megawatt thrusters.


This is now Earth's largest ship—so big it can lift oil rigs off the sea


This is now Earth's largest ship—so big it can lift oil rigs off the sea


The craziest thing? The company that built it is planing to make an even bigger model.


* The Maersk Triple-E is still the longest ship sailing the seas at this time, at 1,312 feet (400 meters.)




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