KARACHI, Sept 5: After breaking up of Kapetan Michalis, world’s third-largest ship at the Gadani Scrapyard during October last, ship breakers at Gadani came up with even bigger vessel to show their determination to compete with ship-breaking industries like that of India, China and Bangladesh, despite comparatively higher import duty structure and recession in business at Gadani in the past couple of years.

The ship to be scrapped was anchored at plot no 91 at Gidani shipyard at about 3pm on Thursday, but it took some three hours to make the vessel stable and vacate it.

“Sea Giant” a giant oil tanker having dead weight tonnage of 555,051, is the second-largest vessel ever built, besides being the world largest ship ever beached in the history of demolition.

It has been bought by one of the leading Pakistani ship-breaking company, Usmani and Co, which had also bought and broke the third-largest vessel, Kapetan Michalis.

Haji Akhlaq of Usmani informed that vessel had been purchased at the Baltic Club, London, at the cost of $230 per ton of steel that amounts to some Rs1 billion, besides some 50 per cent various taxes over it.

Soon after clearing official formalities, the demolition work would start at the ship within 10 days and with about 700 workers to be employed daily, the ship would be scrapped in three months, he added.

The Sea Giant was built by Chantiers De Atlantique - St Nazaire (France) shipyard in 1979, flying Bahamas registry flag, its length is 1,360 feet, almost half a Kilometre.

Having world’s most powerful steam turbine engine of 65,000hp, it reached the maximum speed of 17 knots.—PPI