MV Bali Sea
Ro-ro rail ferry/heavy lift ship
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MV Bali Sea was a roll-on/roll-off rail ferry, previously a heavy-lift ship. It started its life recovering ships and moving oil platforms, undergoing several name changes in the process. It became a rail ferry in 2000, shipping trains across the Gulf of Mexico. In 2021, when new ferries[2] were introduced, Bali Sea was taken out of service and sent to the Alang Ship Breaking Yard in Gujarat, India for scrapping.
- Frigg Shipping (1982–1985)
- Wijsmuller Transport/Dockwise (1985–1995)
- Gulf South Shipping/CG Railway (1995–2021)
Bali Sea with loading up with ferrosur trains at Coatzacoalcos | |
| History | |
|---|---|
| Name | Bali Sea |
| Operator |
|
| Builder | Mitsubishi Heavy Industries |
| Launched | 25 December 1981 |
| Completed | 1982 |
| In service | 1982 |
| Out of service | 2021 |
| Renamed | From Dan Lifter in 1985, from Super Servant 5 in 1995 |
| Identification |
|
| Fate | Scrapped 4 July 2021 |
| General characteristics | |
| Tonnage | |
| Length | 175.4 m (575 ft 6 in) |
| Beam | 35.8 m (117 ft 5 in) |
| Draught | 4.6 m (15 ft 1 in) |
| Speed | 20.5 knots (38.0 km/h; 23.6 mph) |
| Notes | [1] |
History
The ship, a semi-submersible heavy-lift ship at the time, was christened sometime in 1981 with the name Dan Lifter and was sent into service with Frigg Shipping Ltd. in 1982. A year later, it recovered RFA Sir Tristram after the Falklands War. In 1985, it was acquired by Wijsmuller Transport with the name Super Servant 5 to move oil platforms. It stayed with Wijsmuller for ten years, before being transferred to Gulf South Shipping, who passed the recently renamed Bali Sea to CG Railway. It operated as a rail ferry between Coatzacoalcos in Mexico and Mobile, Alabama, on a 900-mile (1,400 km) route, carrying a maximum of 115 rail cars.[3] In 2019, Bali Sea was showing its age. As a result, new ferries were ordered from China, both of which arrived in 2021.[2] With the arrival of the first, MV Cherokee, Bali Sea was renamed Bala, sailed to Nhava Sheva, and decommissioned.[4]