Size Record
Seawise Giant was the longest ship ever constructed, longer than the height of many of the world's tallest buildings. Though slightly smaller than Taipei 101 at 509.2 m (1,671 ft) and Willis Tower (formerly named Sears Tower) at 527.3 m (1,730 ft) from street level to top of antenna, she was larger than the Petronas Twin Towers at 452 m (1,483 ft).
Despite her great length, Seawise Giant was not the largest ship by gross tonnage, ranking fifth at 260,941 GT, behind the four 274,838 to 275,276 GT Batillus-class supertankers. Batillus-class ships and Seawise Giant were the largest self-propelled objects ever constructed.
Seawise Giant was featured on the BBC series Jeremy Clarkson's Extreme Machines while she was underway as Jahre Viking. According to her captain, S. K. Mohan, she could reach up to 16.5 knots (30.6 km/h) in good weather, it took 5.5 miles (8.9 km) to stop from that speed, and her turning circle in clear weather was about 2 mi (3.2 km).
Read more about this topic: Seawise Giant
Famous quotes containing the words size and/or record:
“O hideous little bat, the size of snot,
With polyhedral eye and shabby clothes,”
—Karl Shapiro (b. 1913)
“Such is the role of poetry. It unveils, in the strict sense of the word. It lays bare, under a light which shakes off torpor, the surprising things which surround us and which our senses record mechanically.”
—Jean Cocteau (18891963)