Berge Stahl

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The MS Berge Stahl is the largest bulk cargo ship in the world. It is registered in Stavanger, Norway.

An iron ore carrier, the Berge Stahl weighs in at a massive 364,768 deadweight metric tons, she was built in 1986 by Hyundai Heavy Industries. The Berge Stahl is 343m long, has a beam, or width, of 65m, and a draft, or depth in the water, of 23m. The Hyundai B&W 7L90MCE diesel engine is 9m high, drives a single 9m screw, and puts out 27,610 horsepower. She is owned by the Norwegian shipping company Bergesen d.y. ASA, has a top speed of 13.5 knots, and has a 9m high rudder. Because of her massive size, the Berge Stahl can only tie up at two ports in the world, hauling ore from the Terminal Marítimo de Ponta da Madeira in Brazil to the Europoort near Rotterdam in the Netherlands. The Berge Stahl makes this trip about ten times each year, or a round-trip about every five weeks.

The name Berge Stahl means "Steel Mountain" when translated directly from German to English, but many of Bergesen's ships are named Berge "Something", Berge may be used as both first and last name in Norwegian. The word Berge does also mean to save or rescue in Norwegian.