The Blue Marlin semi-submersible heavy lift vessel, pictured above, is owned by Dockwise Shipping of the Netherlands. Blue Marlin is designed to move large drilling rigs, up to 73,000 tons, on its ship deck. Blue Marlin has a sister ship, MV Black Marlin.
A new larger version, the Vanguard (pictured below), was launched two years ago, with a total lifting capacity of 117,000 tons and a 70% greater deck area. Currently, even larger heavy lift vessel designs are on the drawing board.
The Blue Marlin is considered one of the strongest lift ships in the world and lifts floating vessels out of the water, transporting them to new locations. The US Navy’s Military Sealift Command regularly employs Dockwise as they did when the Navy destroyer USS Cole was damaged by a terrorist attack.
The following image shows a Dockwise ship transporting the US C Based X-Band Radar (SBX)
For a look at the entire Dockwise fleet, visit their website. The following video shows the Blue Marlin in action:
