ss "Melania" tewaterlating NDSM Amsterdam

from NDSM WEEKNUMMER681-HRE0000CD73 "Melania"

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film commentaar Philip Bloemendaal

 

tewaterlating van de eerste helft van deze 200.000 tons tanker, het achterschip.

Direct na de tewaterlating werd begonnen aan de bouw van het voorschip.

 

"Melania" was one of four similar VLCC's built

at the NDSM yard Amsterdam.

Shell ordered 3 ships and Maersk ordered 1 ship.

''Melania'', ''Marticia'', ''Mysella'', for Shell Tankers U.K.

''Dagmar Maersk'' for A.P. Moller,

 

"Melania"

Imo number: 6828569

Year of construction: 1969

Discarded in: 1976

 

Class: M-class 200.000 ton

Tonnage: 212.760

Yard: NDSM

Nederlandse Dok & Scheepsbouw Maatschappij Amsterdam Holland

Construction number: 535

Flag: GB Great Britain

Callsign: GYCE

 

Sailed for Anglo-Saxon / Shell Tankers UK / STUK

Owner:Anglo-Saxon / Shell Tankers U.K.

 

Completed 1969 as "Melania" for STUK,

by joining two halves afloat.

1976 sold to Goulandris Greece and renamed "Andros Tempo". 1976 sold to Centurion Maritime and renamed "Atlas Titan",

27-5-1979 exploded and on fire while tankcleaning at Setubal.

31-5-1980 arrived Kaohsiung for scrap.

info: Helderline

 

This tanker blew up on May 27, 1979,

killing three men.

Another drowned while trying to abandon ship by way of the after mooring ropes.

 

Earlier "Atlas Titan" (ex-"Melania") (ex "Andros Tempo")

had discharged cargo at Wilhelmshaven and the tanks had been crude oil washed in the required inert condition. En route to Setubal for drydock, her tanks received a water wash and slops were collected in No 5 Center tank and the port slop tank.

 

When "Atlas Titan" berthed at Gaslimpo Tankcleaning on May 24, the tanks were reported as properly inerted.

But there was a problem with a valve or line in No 5 center which prevented that tank from being pumped down to the last 4-5 ft of sounding.

It was therefore planned to complete the job with portable pumps.

 

An initial attempt -- using hydraulic equipment with the power unit situated safely on the poop -- failed.

Because of a defective seal.

Efforts to repair the pump were unsuccessful.

As a result, it was decided to use five air-driven sump pumps, suspended in the tank by means of a non-synthetic rope.

 

Air was supplied via standard compressed air hoses fitted with instantaneous couplings of ferrous material and exhausted through a short stub pipe on each pump and vented into the cargo tank.`

 

Discharge hoses of synthetic construction and fitted with aluminum instantaneous couplings led from each pump through a single tank hatch and then to below the liquid level in the port slop tank, so eliminating the possibility of static generation through free-fall.

But none of the pumps was electrically bonded to the ship's structure.

 

The first pump was started at 1900 on May 26th;

by 0030 the next day four units were working.

The fifth pump was not started until 1600.

Less than two hours later, the VLCC "Atlas Titan"

(ex-"Melania") (ex "Andros Tempo") blew up.

 

The explosion in 5C ripped open the decks and caused crippling structural damage.

Later the tanker was declared a CTL.

 

The first four pumps operated each had an air consumption of some 9600 cu ft/hr while the capacity of the fifth unit is still unknown.

However, simple calculation shows that air consumed and then exhausted into No 5 center tank by the first four pumps alone totalled 792,000 cu ft compared to the tank's capacity of 899,339 cu ft.

This indicates that almost a complete air change had been effected, so negating the inerting operation carried out earlier !

Done