Mighty Ships

When it comes to offshore construction projects, nothing matches Norway's North Sea Giant. Her specialty is installing massive components for oil and gas facilities on the ocean floor, aided by a specialized crane system. She will put that crane, and every one of her advanced technologies, to the test on her next mission: a factory build 984 feet below the surface of the Norwegian Sea. It's a project the world has never seen before, billions of dollars are on the line, and everyone's counting on North Sea Giant to get it done.

From exotic sports cars to helicopters to locomotives, Tonsberg can carry anything on wheels. She's one of the largest roll-on/roll-off vessels ever constructed, a 17-story warehouse on the waves. Follow her on her latest delivery route, a four-port, 15-day mission that will take her across the Atlantic Ocean. With a giant payload of 3,000 cars, a giant crane, excavators, and even yachts, Tonsberg must work her way through tight channels, shallow waters, and even a tropical storm, delivering everything on time, and without a scratch.

She's a giant symbol of hope, offering a medical lifeline to some of the most vulnerable people on Earth. Hop aboard USNS Comfort, a massive floating hospital at sea, able to hold up to 1,000 patients, with 12 operating rooms and an impressive array of equipment. Join her midway through her six-month mission to provide humanitarian aid to 11 countries in Latin America and the Caribbean. The challenges are great and the conditions are tough, but nothing will keep Comfort and her crew from delivering aid to those in need.

There is no Alaskan fishing ship quite like Northern Leader. Towing an astonishingly long 50-mile fishing line with 75,000 hooks, she reels in some of the best cod, pollock, and skate on the planet while powering through the unforgiving Bering Sea. Northern Leader works year-round and is built for high winds and cold temperatures, and she better be. Her latest excursion puts her and her crew right into the path of a hurricane, with 70 MPH winds and 30-foot swells, including one massive wave that may spell disaster for one of the deckhands.

Maersk Viking is a high-tech, ultra-deepwater drillship, capable of drilling in seas up to nearly 12,000-feet deep and able to bore seven miles into the Earth's crust. Hop aboard on her latest assignment, building an advanced well 200 miles south of New Orleans in the oil-rich Gulf of Mexico. It's a multi-billion-dollar job with many obstacles, including the remnants of a hurricane that will rock Viking hard and could put the mission, not to mention the 180-person crew, in deep jeopardy.

Take a trip on the most adventurous cruise ship in the world, MS Fram. Built to handle ice-choked waters and narrow channels, this small but tough ship whisks her guests into the seas surrounding Antarctica and the high Arctic. Set sail on a 12-day expedition spanning more than 1,700 miles, from Reykjavik, Iceland, through the fjords of southern Greenland, then north to Ilulissat, "the iceberg capital of the world." It's a voyage that promises stunning scenery for its 195 guests, and huge challenges that will put Fram and her crew to the test.