The Peter Pan, a gigantic car ferry, was lengthened from 190 to 220 meters, and the entire process only took 58 days. How was this accomplished? The engineers cut the ferry into two parts and inserted a 30-meter-long section in the middle, which was prefabricated in another shipyard located 200 kilometers away.
Sixty workers started the preparation work for the lengthening process while the ferry was making her final crossing to the shipyard: German Dry Docks in Bremerhaven. Time was of the essence, and this made the engineers nervous. The company TT-Line, which owns the Peter Pan, provided strict restrictions that had to be met, and a very special cutting method that had never been used before had to be applied.
The first challenges arose when they tried to pull the two halves apart – each half weighing several thousand tons. Some steel beams got stuck, and this wasn’t the only problem they had to deal with. The gigantic single pieces of the ship could only be moved when the dock was flooded, meaning that loose ends like the engine room had to be sealed up watertight to save sensitive technology. Would the welding seams hold? Would the midsection arrive on time in Bremerhaven? Finally, would the three single pieces fit together in the end?
The documentary on the lengthening of the Peter Pan vessel provides an incredible insight into this technological feat. Witness the dedicated crew who made it happen and experience the thrilling moments of the race against time. Watch it now and learn how one of the largest ships in the world has become even larger!
