![]() ![]() To fuel the boom, companies had to ship staggering quantities of oil from the Middle East to the gluttonous markets of Europe and North America. Raising the world from the ashes of war led to explosive economic growth in the following three decades. The problem was effectively solved with the use of crack arrestors (or rip-stop doublers), a method still used in multiple sectors today. Mild steel contains mineral impurities, forming areas of high stress concentration that lead to cracks. Ambiguous naval studies lay the blame on electric welding (then still a novel technology), but engineers soon proved that the problem resulted from the brittleness of the notch-sensitive steel used at the time. ![]() (Source: Wiki Commons)Įarly T-2s suffered from structural weaknesses, like the SS Schenectady, which broke in two while still in dry dock. This unlocked the potential of mass-production, leading to the completion of 533 tankers in the last five years of the war. The T-2 class of turbo-electric oil tankers was a pioneer not only for its all-welded hull, but also for being entirely made of standard components. When an oil tanker first sailed through it in 1892 (Shell’s Murex), draft was not yet an issue, but as longitudinal framing quadrupled the size of the average tanker, the Canal’s 8-meter depth threatened to turn into a bottleneck.Īs with many modern technologies, the Second World War’s monstrous scale was the decisive trigger for the development of supertankers. ( Source: Wiki Commons)Īs it turned out, design problems were easier to resolve than infrastructure challenges, the most important of which was the Suez Canal. The Suez Bottleneck Opening of the Suez Canal, 1869. The new concept moved the navigation-bridge and crew quarters to the aft, which not only improved the practicality of the ship’s layout but made construction and operation much cheaper. The third design milestone came about in the 1950s, with shipbuilders moving away from the “three-island” profile (forecastle, midship, and poop deckhouse) to produce the streamlined tanker we know today. ( Source: National Maritime Museum, Greenwich, UK) The successful 1908 prototype Paul Paix encouraged shipbuilders and owners to adopt the technology and produce longer and safer oil carriers. Despite the existence of longitudinally framed ships in the late 19 th century (most notably, Brunel’s Great Eastern), the process only became economical through Joseph Isherwood’s 1906 patent, allowing for much longer cargo vessels, without compromising structural integrity. ![]() The second development to expedite the birth of supertankers was longitudinal framing, in which the heavy transverse frames are reinforced by light longitudinal members. In addition to divided holds, she had a direct filling system, horizontal bulkheads, and a ballast system to replace oil with seawater when unloaded. Swan then used his concept to design what many consider the first purpose-built oil tanker, the Glückauf (1886). In 1883, British engineer Henry Swan tried sectioning the cargo holds of the Nobel tankers Blesk, Lumen, and Lux – a principle so effective it still defines modern tankers. This neutralized the righting effect of displaced water outside the hull, changing the center of gravity enough to capsize the vessel. (Source: Wiki Commons)Įarly designs were plagued by inherent instability due to the free surface effect, with the oil sloshing to the sides of the hold in the same direction as the rolling of the ship. Though ultimately a short-lived trend, supertankers were the result of long-term economic, political, and technological developments. And despite decreasing popularity, few things symbolize the golden days of crude oil better than the supertanker. Glorified by some and demonized by others, this liquid fossil-fuel has defined global political and technological processes for more than a hundred years. Oil was among the cornerstones of the 20 th century and continues to be a prevalent energy source so far in the 21 st. ![]()
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