''Mighty Servant 2'' was a 29,000-ton

semi-submersible Semi-submersible may refer to a self-propelled vessel, such as: * Heavy-lift ship, which partially submerge to allow their cargo (another ship) to float into place for transport *Narco-submarine, some of which remained partially on the surface * ...

heavy-lift ship A heavy-lift ship is a vessel designed to move very large loads that cannot be handled by normal ships. They are of two types: *''Semi-submersible'' ships that take on water ballast to allow the load—usually another vessel—to be floated o ...

operated by

Dockwise Dockwise was a Netherlands-based holding company in the marine transport industry. It was acquired by Boskalis in 2013 and was merged into the Boskalis brand name in 2018. History Dockwise was formed in September 1993 by the merger of two compleme ...

. The ship drew worldwide attention in 1988 for transporting the mine-damaged from

Dubai Dubai (, ; ar, wikt:دبي, دبي, translit=Dubayy, , ) is the List of cities in the United Arab Emirates#Major cities, most populous city in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and the capital of the Emirate of Dubai, the most populated of the 7 ...

Newport, Rhode Island Newport is an American seaside city on Aquidneck Island in Newport County, Rhode Island. It is located in Narragansett Bay, approximately southeast of Providence, south of Fall River, Massachusetts, south of Boston, and northeast of New Yor ...

. The ship was built in 1983 by Oshima Shipbuilding Co. Ltd. in Ōshima,

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the n ...

, for

Dutch Dutch commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands * Dutch people () * Dutch language () Dutch may also refer to: Places * Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States * Pennsylvania Dutch Country People E ...

shipping firm

Wijsmuller Transport Dockwise was a Netherlands-based holding company in the marine transport industry. It was acquired by Boskalis in 2013 and was merged into the Boskalis brand name in 2018. History Dockwise was formed in September 1993 by the merger of two compleme ...

, which merged in 1993 with Dock Express Shipping to become

Breda Breda () is a city and municipality in the southern part of the Netherlands, located in the province of North Brabant. The name derived from ''brede Aa'' ('wide Aa' or 'broad Aa') and refers to the confluence of the rivers Mark and Aa. Breda has ...

-based offshore heavy lifting group Dockwise Shipping B.V. The vessel capsized in 1999 and was scrapped in 2000.

Service

''Mighty Servant 2'' was capable of carrying the heaviest semi-submersible drilling units, harsh-environment deep-water jack-up rigs and large floating production

tension-leg platform __NOTOC__ A tension-leg platform (TLP) or extended tension leg platform (ETLP) is a vertically moored floating structure normally used for the offshore production of oil or gas, and is particularly suited for water depths greater than 300 metr ...

s and spars with drafts of up to 14 metres. Most of the ship's cargoes were oil platforms and related gear. When loading its mammoth burdens, the ship took thousands of tons of water into ballast tanks, submerging its cargo deck. The cargo would be floated into position, whereupon ''Mighty Servant 2'' would slowly pump out its ballast, lifting the deck up to sailing position.

USS ''Samuel B. Roberts''

Her most famous job was the July 1988 haulage of the

U.S. Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage o ...

's from

, after the

guided missile frigate A frigate () is a type of warship. In different eras, the roles and capabilities of ships classified as frigates have varied somewhat. The name frigate in the 17th to early 18th centuries was given to any full-rigged ship built for speed and ...

struck a mine in the

Persian Gulf The Persian Gulf ( fa, خلیج فارس, translit=xalij-e fârs, lit=Gulf of Fars, ), sometimes called the ( ar, اَلْخَلِيْجُ ٱلْعَرَبِيُّ, Al-Khalīj al-ˁArabī), is a mediterranean sea in Western Asia. The bo ...

on 14 April 1988. The 125-meter frigate barely fit on ''Mighty Servant 2''s cargo deck; holes had to be cut to accommodate the frigate's sonar dome and stabilizing fins. The loading, which was supervised by divers and underwater video monitors, took about 12 hours, with gaps measured in mere centimetres. About 20 of the frigate's 200-man crew remained aboard during the 8,100-mile, 30-day voyage. The USS ''Fahrion'' escorted the USS ''Samuel B. Roberts'' from Dubai through the Straits of Hormuz. The job received worldwide media coverage.

Sister ships

''Mighty Servant 2'' had two

sister ship A sister ship is a ship of the same class or of virtually identical design to another ship. Such vessels share a nearly identical hull and superstructure layout, similar size, and roughly comparable features and equipment. They often share a ...

s, ''

Mighty Servant 1 ''Mighty Servant 1'' is a 29,000-ton heavy-lift ship capable of carrying very large vessels and offshore platforms. Built for Dutch shipping firm Wijsmuller Transport, which merged in 1993 with Dock Express Shipping to become Breda-based offsho ...

'', built in 1983, and ''

Mighty Servant 3 ''Mighty Servant 3'' is a 27,000-ton semi-submersible heavy lift ship. Its deck is . The vessel was built in 1984 by Oshima Shipbuilding Co. Ltd. in Ōshima, Japan, for Dutch shipping firm Wijsmuller Transport, which merged in 1993 with Dock E ...

'', built in 1984. Both were built for

. On 6 December 2006, ''Mighty Servant 3'' sank in of water near the port of

Luanda Luanda () is the capital and largest city in Angola. It is Angola's primary port, and its major industrial, cultural and urban centre. Located on Angola's northern Atlantic coast, Luanda is Angola's administrative centre, its chief seapo ...

, Angola, while offloading the drilling platform ''Aleutian Key''. There were no casualties. In August 2009, Dockwise Shipping reported it had been returned to service.

Incidents and accidents

1999 capsizing

''Mighty Servant 2'' capsized and sank on 2 November 1999 near the Indonesian island of

Singkep Singkep is an island in the Lingga Archipelago in Indonesia. Its area is . It is separated from the east coast of Sumatra by the Berhala Strait. It is surrounded by islands Posik to the west, I. Serak to the SW, I. Lalang to the South, and I. Sela ...

(). The ship was en route from

Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, bor ...

to Cabinda, Angola, bearing the North Nemba Topsides 8,790-ton offshore production module. The vessel tipped onto its side in of water in reportedly calm seas. A hydrographic survey of the area later discovered an unmarked single isolated pinnacle of granite directly on the ship's course. Five crew members died, including two Dutch and two Filipino men. ''Mighty Servant 2'' was declared a total loss. In 2000, the wreck was refloated, renamed ''T 2'', transported to

Alang Alang is a census town in Bhavnagar district in the Indian state of Gujarat. Because it is home to the Alang Ship Breaking Yard, Alang beaches are considered the world's largest ship graveyard. Demographics As of the 2001 Indian census, ...

, India, and scrapped.

References

External links

Photos of Mighty Servant 2 hauling USS Samuel B. Roberts (FFG 58)Photos of the wreck of Mighty Servant 2Model of sister ship, Mighty Servant 1Page about sister ship, Mighty Servant 3Dockwise Shipping B.V.
{{1999 shipwrecks Semi-submersibles Heavy lift ships Ships of the Netherlands Shipwrecks in the Indian Ocean Maritime incidents in 1999 1983 ships Ships built by Oshima Shipbuilding