The massive heavy lift vessel Black Marlin sitting off Hobart waiting to collect Incat Tasmania’s world-leading battery electric ferry has drawn attention as one of the largest ships ever to enter the River Derwent.
At 217 metres long, 42 metres wide and 37,938 gross tonnes, the vessel is among the biggest ships to visit the city – but it is not the largest.
Maritime Museum Tasmania resident ship expert Rex Cox said Black Marlin’s size put it in rare company among vessels that have visited Hobart over the decades.
“Black Marlin outweighs the giant LASH barge carrier China Bear, which called at Hobart in the 1970s with a gross tonnage of 26,406,” he said.
“It is also considerably wider, although China Bear was longer at 250 metres.”
“Compared with cargo ships that regularly visit today, Black Marlin is in another league.”
Cruise ships, however, remain larger.
“Ovation of the Seas stretches 348 metres and measures 168,666 gross tonnes, while Disney Wonder comes in at 294 metres and more than 83,000 gross tonnes,” Cox said.
“Even the famous Queen Elizabeth of 1940, once the largest merchant ship in the world, was substantially larger at 314 metres and 83,673 gross tonnes.”
Cox said several warships had also dwarfed Black Marlin during visits to Hobart, including the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier USS Enterprise, which visited in 1976 and measured 342 metres long and the battlecruiser HMS Hood, which called in 1924.
While Black Marlin is not the largest vessel ever to visit Hobart, it will soon carry one of the most significant ships built in Tasmania.
The vessel is expected to load Incat’s ferry onto its submerged deck on Friday after weather forced the operation to be delayed by a day.
