The Solitaire is the largest pipe-laying ship

Pipe-laying ship

A pipelaying ship is a maritime vessel used in the construction of subsea infrastructure. It serves to connect oil production platforms with refineries on shore...

 in the world at 300 metres (984 ft) long (excluding pipe-laying apparatus) and 96000 tonnes (94,483.5 LT). When fully operational she has a crew of 420, a pipe carrying capacity of 22,000 metric tons and a pipe lay speed of more than 9 km a day.

She was built in 1972 as a bulk carrier

Bulk carrier

A bulk carrier, bulk freighter, or bulker is a merchant ship specially designed to transport unpackaged bulk cargo, such as grains, coal, ore, and cement in its cargo holds. Since the first specialized bulk carrier was built in 1852, economic forces have fueled the development of these ships,...

 and launched under the name Trentwood by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries

Mitsubishi Heavy Industries

, or MHI, is a Japanese company. It is one of the core companies of Mitsubishi Group.-History:In 1870 Yataro Iwasaki, the founder of Mitsubishi took a lease of Government-owned Nagasaki Shipyard. He named it Nagasaki Shipyard & Machinery Works, and started the shipbuilding business on a full scale...

 at their shipyard in Hiroshima

Hiroshima

is the capital of Hiroshima Prefecture, and the largest city in the Chūgoku region of western Honshu, the largest island of Japan. It became best known as the first city in history to be destroyed by a nuclear weapon when the United States Army Air Forces dropped an atomic bomb on it at 8:15 A.M...

, Japan, and later converted to a pipe-laying vessel between 1996 and 1998 at Swan Hunter Shipyard on Tyneside

Tyneside

Tyneside is a conurbation in North East England, defined by the Office of National Statistics, which is home to over 80% of the population of Tyne and Wear. It includes the city of Newcastle upon Tyne and the Metropolitan Boroughs of Gateshead, North Tyneside and South Tyneside — all settlements on...

 in England. The ship is owned by the Allseas Group

Allseas

Allseas Group SA is one of the largest offshore pipelay companies with 2000 employees. The company is privately owned by founder Edward Heerema....

, a Swiss

Switzerland

Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....

pipelaying and marine construction firm.