J3675 : The 'Dorset Spirit' at Belfast

taken 1 year ago, near to Queens Island, Ballymacarret, Sydenham and Ballyhackamore, Northern Ireland

The 'Dorset Spirit' at Belfast
The 'Dorset Spirit' at Belfast
279m (148,150 DWT) Canadian flagged oil tanker 'Dorset Spirit' LinkExternal link departing the Harland & Wolff Building Dock after maintenance. A shuttle tanker LinkExternal link (note the apparatus on the bow), the ship was towed dead from Canada, the engines shut down after suffering propulsion issues.

The ship exited the dock with the assistance of four tugs - the 'Svitzer Sussex' LinkExternal link , 'Svitzer Surrey' LinkExternal link , 'Masterman' LinkExternal link and 'Merchantman' LinkExternal link.
The Harland and Wolff Building Dock, Belfast :: J3575

The building dock in Belfast was constructed between 1968-1970 by George Wimpey & Company for the Harland and Wolff shipyard in Belfast. A massive 556 metres long by 93 metres wide, it was designed for the construction of massive crude oil tankers and bulkers. Although many ships were constructed here, including two supertankers of 172,174 tonnes (343,423 DWT), the yard was in decline by the early 1970s and the dock never really fulfilled its potential. The last ship to be constructed was the 'Anvil Point' in 2003 and the yard now specialising in ship repair and the emerging renewable energies sector, notably offshore wind turbines and tidal energy projects.
Towering above the dock are the two gantry cranes 'Samson' and 'Goliath'. Now landmarks on the Belfast skyline, the cranes were designed for the yard by the German firm Krupp. Goliath, completed in 1969 and mostly fabricated by the yard, stands at 96 metres and Samson, completed in 1974 and built entirely by Krupp, is taller at 106 metres. Both cranes have a span of 140m and have a safe working load of 840 tonnes each (though I believe were tested for 1,000 which caused the top girders to bend downwards by some 11 inches). They run on 800m of track which spans the length of the dock and each crane has 64 special anti-friction bearing mounted wheels.
Both the dock and the cranes are now protected scheduled monuments. See LinkExternal link for technical information .

LinkExternal link in an informative video from the BBC.

Creative Commons Licence [Some Rights Reserved]   © Copyright Rossographer and licensed for reuse under this Creative Commons Licence.
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J3675, 575 images   (more nearby search)
Photographer
Date Taken
Friday, 29 October, 2021   (more nearby)
Submitted
Friday, 29 October, 2021
Geographical Context
Coastal  Docks, Harbours 
Primary Subject of Photo
Ship  Dock 
Place (from Tags)
Belfast  Musgrave Channel  Belfast Docks 
Subject Location
Irish: geotagged! J 361 759 [100m precision]
WGS84: 54:36.7878N 5:53.6013W
Camera Location
Irish: geotagged! J 361 760
View Direction
South-southeast (about 157 degrees)
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Other Tags
Belfast  Belfast Harbour  Harland & Wolff  Harland and Wolff  Ship  Shipyard 

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Image Type (about): close look  cross grid 
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