At the end of last month, the “Longsend” vessel jam in the Suez Canal attracted global attention. Recently, when an ultra-large luxury yacht in the Netherlands left the factory and passed through the only small canal, the photographer caught the thrilling picture of the extreme bridge crossing. A cold sweat.
Recently, a superyacht built by the Dutch shipbuilding company Feadship was completed and shipped from its shipyard in the inland village of Kaag. The ship had to cross a narrow canal to reach the North Sea. Photographer Tom van Oossanen captured the new yacht guiding the tugboat. The pictures of crossing the water, passing houses and churches, and crossing bridges accurately are amazing.
The Dutch shipyard Feadship is famous for building luxury yachts. This new ship is one of the largest yachts launched this year. It is temporarily named Project 817 and is expected to be named "Viva" after it is officially put into operation. The ship is 94 meters (310 feet) long and about 14 meters (44.7 feet) wide. In order to get to the port of Rotterdam, Project 817 can only use a narrow canal. The designer has measured the width of the canal channel and the bridge when the bridge is opened before building the ship, and enlarged the width of the ship to the limit as much as possible. Therefore, the width of the part of the river that Project 817 traveled is almost the same as the width of the ship, and it may be stuck if it is a few centimeters away.
Since the shipyard is located in the interior of the Netherlands, a considerable distance from the North Sea, all new ships built by the Feadship shipyard need to use tugboats to go through the canal to the North Sea. Feadship Shipyard said that the time it takes to tow the ship to its destination will be affected by many factors. For example, the wind or the opening time of the bridge on the canal usually takes 2 to 4 days, while the towing work of Project 817 took 4 days. A team of 5 experts and the crew on board guided the trip to sea.
According to Oossanen, every year, Feadship has about 4 to 6 superyachts transported along this canal to Amsterdam for sea trials. "This is a big project and everyone loves it." However, the movement of superyachts like Project 817 has undoubtedly caused serious chaos in local land and water traffic. Sometimes it may take an hour to cross a bridge.
Oossanen pointed out that the design of Project 817 fully meets the requirements of the canal channel. He has only seen 4 superyachts of this size perform the same sailing before.
During the first phase of the towing operation, Project 817 was transferred from Feadship’s shipyard in Kaag to Lake Braassemermeer, where buoys were installed to ensure that the ship floats and avoids being unable to pass the canal due to too deep draft. Subsequently, the tugboat was connected to the pontoons on both sides of the yacht in order to accurately guide the ship through the canal, crossing a small bridge in the small village of Woubrugge, and the western Dutch town of Alfen on the Rhine, arriving in Amsterdam a few days later Gouda City in the south.
Oossanen said: "This will take a long time, no one is in a hurry, because you don't want to row the boat." He explained that in order to ensure smooth transportation, the Feadship shipyard hires the same transportation company and tugboat driver every time. "They are right. I am very experienced in my work. Obviously, this requires a lot of money."
Oossanen is particularly focused on filming the transfer itinerary of Project 817, because this is likely to be the last time a super yacht of this size has sailed this route. Feadship shipyard opened a new shipyard in Amsterdam, which can build superyachts up to 160 meters in length. The Dutch government has also decided to widen the Kornwerderzand lock. In the future, the scene of large yachts crossing narrow canals may become increasingly rare.
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