A gargantuan, semi-submersible heavy-lift ship was anchored in the Royal Road anchorage near Victoria on Wednesday.
The ship, the MV Hua Rui Long, is one of the largest of its kind in the world, according to COSCO Shipping and Guangzhou Salvage, the two companies that own the vessel.
Semi-submersible heavy-lift ships can transport incredibly heavy cargo across the world. They can also submerge slightly so that the loads can float on top of them before they rise out of the water to begin transporting them.
The MV Hua Rui Long was built in 2022 and can carry 80,000 deadweight tonnage (mt DWT), or the equivalent of 80,000 metric tonnes in cargo.
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The MV Hua Rui Long is seen in the waters off Victoria on Oct. 11, 2023.
The ship is one of 13 vessels being added to the joint COSCO Shipping and Guangzhou Salvage fleet by the end of the year.
“The combined fleet will range in size from 20,000mt DWT to 98,000mt DWT and include two of the largest semi-submersible vessels in the world,” reads a release from COSCO in July.
The Greater Victoria Harbour Authority says the ship is headed to Nanaimo on Thursday, though it suspects it’s not the vessel’s final destination.
Another COSCO ship, the Xiang He Kou, previously brought heavy equipment to the LNG Canada Project in Kitimat, B.C.
CHEK News has reached out to COSCO for further details about the MV Hua Rui Long’s voyage.
The massive cargo ship is not the first eye-catching vessel to dock in Victoria this year.
In May, a $100 million superyacht docked in the Inner Harbour, and in January a massive Korean cargo ship docked in Ogden Point for repairs.
Adam Chan
