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MV Kurdistan
MV Kurdistan, initially named Frank D. Moores, was an oil tanker built in 1973 for the American-Canadian trade. In 1979, she became stuck in ice and suffered a cataphoric structural failure, resulting in her bow sheering off and the spilling of 10,000 tons of oil off Nova Scotia, Canada.
The cause of the accident was blamed on defective welding in her keel. Following the accident, her bow was rebuilt and the ship was sold off under a new name. She was transferred between owners before she was scrapped in 2000.
In December 1973, the Come by Chance Refinery in Newfoundland began operations, promising to produce 100,000 barrels of oil a day. Anticipating demand from the new refinery, the Nile Steamship Company, itself a subsidiary of Common Brothers, ordered two oil tankers from Swan Hunter shipbuilders at a combined cost of $15 million ($106,248,126 in 2023). The two ships were built to carry jet fuel from the refinery to Boston's Logan International Airport and New York City's John F. Kennedy Airport. The first tanker was named the Joseph R. Smallwood, named after Joseph Smallwood, premier of Newfoundland and Labrador, who was a staunch supporter of the refinery. Her sistership was christened Frank D. Moores, named after Frank Moores, premier when the refinery opened. The Frank D. Moores was launched by the namesake's two daughters in February 1973 and completed in June of the same year.
As designed, her superstructure, funnel, and engine was located on the stern, joined by a raised forecastle on the bow and an otherwise clear deck. She was rated as Ice Classification One by Lloyd's Register, indicating she could operate without a breaker in icy waters.
The ship's hold was separated into six tanks, which were further divided into a center tank and a wing tank on either side.
A common trend during the 1970s was the use of relatively unstudied high-strength steel in ship construction. It was believed that the stronger steel would be able to resist stress better than the older types of steel, reducing the need for structural redundancies. What was not known at the time was that the stronger steel was as equally vulnerable to fatigue fractures as the normal steel, leading to a rise in structural failures of such vessels built during the decade.
On 16 July 1975, she collided with the Mount Hope Bridge while traveling to Tiverton, Rhode Island at night in heavy fog. The bridge was severely damaged with the north tower nearly sheered apart, requiring two years of repairs and the jacking of the tower to allow the removal of damaged steel. The damage to the bridge totaled out to be $600,000 ($3,113,344 in 2023). The tanker on the other hand was relatively unaffected, suffering only slight damage to the bow and responsibility for the accident.
Ever since the two ships were under construction, it was planned that the refinery's parent company would operate the duo. As such, the Newfoundland Refining Company was established and chartered both tankers from Nile Steamship for 16 years. However, the Come by Chance Refinery - and Newfoundland Refining - went bankrupt in 1976.
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MV Kurdistan
MV Kurdistan, initially named Frank D. Moores, was an oil tanker built in 1973 for the American-Canadian trade. In 1979, she became stuck in ice and suffered a cataphoric structural failure, resulting in her bow sheering off and the spilling of 10,000 tons of oil off Nova Scotia, Canada.
The cause of the accident was blamed on defective welding in her keel. Following the accident, her bow was rebuilt and the ship was sold off under a new name. She was transferred between owners before she was scrapped in 2000.
In December 1973, the Come by Chance Refinery in Newfoundland began operations, promising to produce 100,000 barrels of oil a day. Anticipating demand from the new refinery, the Nile Steamship Company, itself a subsidiary of Common Brothers, ordered two oil tankers from Swan Hunter shipbuilders at a combined cost of $15 million ($106,248,126 in 2023). The two ships were built to carry jet fuel from the refinery to Boston's Logan International Airport and New York City's John F. Kennedy Airport. The first tanker was named the Joseph R. Smallwood, named after Joseph Smallwood, premier of Newfoundland and Labrador, who was a staunch supporter of the refinery. Her sistership was christened Frank D. Moores, named after Frank Moores, premier when the refinery opened. The Frank D. Moores was launched by the namesake's two daughters in February 1973 and completed in June of the same year.
As designed, her superstructure, funnel, and engine was located on the stern, joined by a raised forecastle on the bow and an otherwise clear deck. She was rated as Ice Classification One by Lloyd's Register, indicating she could operate without a breaker in icy waters.
The ship's hold was separated into six tanks, which were further divided into a center tank and a wing tank on either side.
A common trend during the 1970s was the use of relatively unstudied high-strength steel in ship construction. It was believed that the stronger steel would be able to resist stress better than the older types of steel, reducing the need for structural redundancies. What was not known at the time was that the stronger steel was as equally vulnerable to fatigue fractures as the normal steel, leading to a rise in structural failures of such vessels built during the decade.
On 16 July 1975, she collided with the Mount Hope Bridge while traveling to Tiverton, Rhode Island at night in heavy fog. The bridge was severely damaged with the north tower nearly sheered apart, requiring two years of repairs and the jacking of the tower to allow the removal of damaged steel. The damage to the bridge totaled out to be $600,000 ($3,113,344 in 2023). The tanker on the other hand was relatively unaffected, suffering only slight damage to the bow and responsibility for the accident.
Ever since the two ships were under construction, it was planned that the refinery's parent company would operate the duo. As such, the Newfoundland Refining Company was established and chartered both tankers from Nile Steamship for 16 years. However, the Come by Chance Refinery - and Newfoundland Refining - went bankrupt in 1976.