World's Biggest Shipbuilders

In South Korea's Okpo and Sungdong shipyards, two international teams are building a giant tanker as long as two football fields, along with the world's biggest jack-up rig.

Workers face one of their heaviest lifts ever building the XLE4 jack-up rig. On the tanker build, the mammoth task of creating the 18-ton propeller begins, while others take on a marathon paint job in the ship's ballast tanks.

The tight confines of the XLE4 make the threat of fire and smoke a very real danger. 600 laborers and the yard's rescue team must practice for every worker's worst nightmare - a serious fire in the rig's metal maze.

Workers in Poland begin construction of a mighty super tugboat with the power of 180 cars. In Korea, the XLE4's hull is now complete, while the tanker teams must shift the ship onto a giant submersible dock.

The super tug's hull pieces arrive in Norway for assembly. In South Korea, a potential disaster strikes as workers prepare to launch the Tangier, and the XLE4's sister rig heads for an oil field in the stormy North Sea.

Finally complete, the brand new super tanker Tangier has left port to begin her maiden voyage. On the other side of the world in Norway, the super tug team races against the clock to finish the build.