SEAWISE GIANT

At a length of 1,505 feet, the Seawise Giant, an ultra-large crude carrier (ULCC) supertanker, is the longest ship ever built. Seawise Giant was ordered in 1974 and delivered in 1979 by Sumitomo Heavy Industries, Ltd. at its Oppama shipyard in Yokosuka, Kanagawa, Japan. Seawise Giant possessed the largest deadweight tonnage ever recorded: 564,763 tons. Fully loaded, its displacement was 657,019 tons. The heaviest ship of any kind, and with a laden draft of 81 feet, it was incapable of navigating the English Channel, the Suez Canal or the Panama Canal. Overall, it is generally considered the largest* ship ever built. In 2009, the vessel was sold to Indian ship breakers and beached for scrapping. *Seawise Giant was not the largest by gross tonnage, ranking sixth at 260.941 GT, behind the crane ship Pioneering Spirit and 4 Batillus-class supertankers.