Car-carrying ‘monster’ discharges in Durban

DURBAN LAST week hosted the largest carcarrying ship ever to visit South Africa with the arrival of Wallenius Wilhelmsen’s Fidelio. She is the second of five sister ships, each carrying an operatic name, which are designed to carry up to 8 000 cars at a time or a combination of cars and buses or lorries. The 228m long panamax ship extends 34.7m to upper deck. Five of her 13 decks are adjustable in height to accommodate buses and large equipment She has a deadweight of 30 137t at maximum draught and a bridge that is totally enclosed and airconditioned, providing 360 degree visibility. Fidelio uses a state of the art ballast water treatment system which is in compliance with the new IMO convention on ballast water treatment. According to the builders' specifications the engines put out low NOx emissions.