Design and Construction
The vessel was one of 137 cargo vessels built by Danish shipping company Mercandia between 1964 and 1996 for their worldwide shipping fleet. The ship is of the Mercandian 2-in-1 class design, with a displacement of 7,995 tonnes (7,869 long tons; 8,813 short tons) at light load, and 10,500 tonnes (10,300 long tons; 11,600 short tons) at full load. She is 131.7 metres (432 ft) long, with a beam of 21.1 metres (69 ft), and a draught of 6.2 metres (20 ft). The propulsion system consists of a MaK M 453AK diesel motor, which supplied 4,890 horsepower (3,650 kW) to a single controllable pitch propeller. This was supplemented by a bow thruster. Maximum speed was 14 knots (26 km/h; 16 mph), and maximum range was 7,000 nautical miles (13,000 km; 8,100 mi) at 15 knots (28 km/h; 17 mph).
The ship had a two ramps for vehicle loading; one at the stern, the other on the starboard side. She was designed to carry up to 7,000 tonnes (6,900 long tons; 7,700 short tons) of cargo. The crew complement was 17 strong, and the ship was fitted with two I-band navigational radars.
The vessel was built by Frederikshavns Vft in Frederikshavn, Denmark. Laid down as yard number 407, she was launched on 16 December 1983, and completed on 6 April 1984. The vessel was assigned the IMO Number 8131128.
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