At the port of Lirquen, Chile.

IMO Nº: 8414738

Class: ABS
Class Notations: A1, ?, AMS, BWT, CRC

Ex name: Rich Duchess

Type of ship: Heavy Load Carrier
Call Sign: VRDA8
Flag: Hong Kong
Port of Register: Hong Kong
Registered Owners and Managers: Shanghai Zhenhua Shipping Co.

DWT: 48.412
GRT: 37.879 NRT: 11.363

LOA: 242,83 Mts. Lpp: 234,00 Mts. B: 40,00 Mts. D: 13,50 Mts.
Freeboard: mm. Draught: Mts.

Ship’s Yard: Kasado Dockyard Co., Ltd. Hull Nº: 359
Keel laid: 3 April 1986 Delivery date: 24 October 1986


Main Engine

Manufacturer: Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd. Kobe Shipyard & Engine works Engine design: Sulzer Engine model: 6RTA76 Engine bore: 760 mm Ship’s service speed: 14,60 Knots Engine number of cylinders: 6 Engine power: 10.444 kW Engine stroke: 2.242 mm

Additional information:

This ship was formerly the tanker ship Rich Duchess that was recently converted into a heavy lift ship. There are quite a number of Them operated by this company. She arrived at Felixstowe on February 29th, 2008, with 5 new dock cranes welded to her deck, 3 for Felixstowe, 1 for Thamesport and 1 for Gothenburg. It was decided to lay her by on the Landguard Terminal as heavy weather was forecast and a stretch of quay was cleared of cranes and obstacles on her behalf. The predicted gales duly arrived on March 1st and the ship parted its mooring ropes, then going astern and running aground on the beach, one of its cranes, the Gothenburg one, coming into contact with 2 of the landbased cranes. The rest speaks for itself. Ironically, the crane still standing of the 3 at the eastern end of Landguard Terminal is decommisioned and they would probably have been doing the port a favout if they'd knocked that one down.

Two of the four cranes on board were discharged at the port of Lirquen, Chile.