Wijsmuller's semi-submersible heavy-lift vessel Super Servant recently crossed the Atlantic with an unusual cargo — a complete floating generating station. After unloading at Baton Rouge, La. on the Mississippi, the plant was towed some 1,600 miles upriver to its final destination, where it will generate electricity for the entire town of Vanceburg, Ky., located on the Ohio River.
Towing the plant across the Atlantic by tug would have been a difficult operation, but the self-propelled Super Servant is specially designed to load and transport all kinds of heavy and awkward cargo. The vessel can be submerged to a maximum depth of about 19.7 feet over its entire cargo deck to float cargo aboard, while cargo can also be loaded on to its flush deck by the roll-on/roll-off method.
The generating plant was built by Alsthom-Atlantique, the French electrical engineering and shipbuilding group, at St. Nazaire. The entire loading operation took place in the dock where the plant had been built in eight months, demonstrating the flexibility of the Super Servant class of vessel.
Heavy-lift specialists Wijsmuller, headquartered in Ijmulden, Netherlands, have three semi-submersible vessels in service, with two more on order in Japan.
For more information on Wijsmuller's operations,
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