Lloyd's Register has just clinched another global first with the centenary of Selandia - the first merchant ship to be fitted with diesel engines.
LR's Chief Engineer Surveyor J T Milton was on board during the vessel's first epoch-making sea trial in 1912. He reported back to his peers: "The engines worked admirably throughout .... the vessel being manoeuvred from and to her moorings with as much certainty, and as quickly, as an ordinary steam vessel."
Although the industry has changed markedly since then with many sophisticated and innovative sources of power, we still owe a huge debt of thanks to the engineers and designers who pioneered that first diesel-powered vessel.
Read about this and other breaking news on pages 2 to 7 in the May issue of Horizons, Lloyd's Register's marine magazine.
The near complete hull of Selandia
Source: LR
