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Monday, June 27, 2011

The Biggest Ships in the World, Part 3

Huge Container Ships Harass Small Tugboats
(a steamy tale of intimidation in a port)

but first let's see what makes big ships "tick":
The Largest Diesel Engine in the World

The pictures of a huge engine at the end of part 2 generated quite an interest, so I decided to give a proper

Cruise Ship, Transportation

The name is Wärtsilä-Sulzer RTA96-C turbocharged diesel engine:
it has 14 cylinders
Output Power is 80,080 kW or 108,920 bhp.
(your Jeep may have 300 bhp)
width 26,7 meters, height 13,2 meters
(a small apartment building)

Cruise Ship, Transportation

Currently the company is considering an 18-cylinder version.

Here is how the pistons look (they are 1-meter each in diameter)

Cruise Ship, Transportation

A piston & piston rod assembly:
Cruise Ship, Transportation

another image of the crankshaft:
Cruise Ship, Transportation

Smaller versions of these engines were installed on various supertankers and giant cargo ships before:
Cruise Ship, Transportation
Cruise Ship, Transportation
(they are also adapting them for the interstellar Enterprise-type vessels to battle Klingons more effectively)
But more recently, in September 2006 huge 14-cylinder diesel engine was put into service aboard "Emma Maersk":

Witness "EMMA MAERSK" - The Biggest Container Ship in the World

My website layout does not allow to show the full length of these photos, to give that ship full credit. So make sure you click on the source gallery
(the bigger the monitor you have the better)

Cruise Ship, Transportation
Cruise Ship, Transportation
Cruise Ship, Transportation

Crowds watch the arrival of the huge vessel in Rotterdam. The ship can carry between 11,000 and 14,500 containers and is 400 meters long. (Empire State Building is 445 meters high)

Cruise 
Ship, Transportation
Cruise Ship, Transportation
Photo by Christian Hansen

Serious size and muscle there, you have to admit. Slightly smaller ship
"MSC Pamela" looks almost as imposing:
Cruise Ship, Transportation
Cruise Ship, Transportation

To give you better idea of scale...
Here are some pics that illustrate how big these ships are:

Cruise Ship, Transportation
Cruise Ship, Transportation
Cruise Ship, Transportation
Speaking about ports and tugboats...

If in seaport, be careful around cargo cranes:
Cruise Ship, Transportation
(don't worry, I used Photoshop)

but this is real:
Cruise Ship, Transportation

...marvel at this group of people, who by-pass the cargo cranes entirely:
PERSONAL CONTAINER MANAGEMENT:
Cruise 
Ship, Transportation
Cruise 
Ship, Transportation

...notice the various tugboats scuttling around, and remember to pay them proper respect, because
- they are often overworked:
Cruise Ship, Transportation

- they have to go against big ship wakes:
Cruise Ship, Transportation
Cruise Ship, Transportation

- they're abused by the larger ships
(like a little tug in this video, who did not see the ANCHOR coming)

Cruise Ship, Transportation
Cruise Ship, Transportation
Cruise Ship, Transportation
Cruise Ship, Transportation




Tugs come to the rescue when a larger ship catches the smaller one in a deadly grip: "The anchor chain from the sailboat caught over the bulb of the freighter. The saiboat was soon nearly dragged under the freighter."
Cruise Ship, Transportation

And, for all their hard work, tugboats only end up crushed between the larger ships, if they are not nimble enough:
(photos of one such boat after being man-handled by a freighter)
Cruise Ship, Transportation
Cruise Ship, Transportation
Cruise Ship, Transportation

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