The 360ft ship launched sideways, causing an enormous wave that inundated a nearby highway.

Traffic stopped and onlookers stood well clear when the M.V. Greenland made its sudden move from shore to water, and they’re lucky they did.

As shown in the video, the 360ft vessel entered the canal adjoining its dry dock at Westerbroek Shipyard in the Netherlands in what’s known as a cross-launch, causing a mini-tsunami to inundate the nearby highway.

The massive ship making the big splash is a cement carrier and is said to be the world’s first cargo ship to be fuelled by clean-burning liquified natural gas (LNG). The 130 cubic metre LNG fuel tank sits vertically inside the hull in the ship’s forward section and powers a six-cylinder Wartsila 34DF main engine.

While sailing on LNG, the vessel will meet and surpass the most stringent current maritime emission standards, as well as any that may come into practice in the near future.

M.V. Greenland’s christening ceremony was performed by Ase Espeland, partner of Petter Tronstad, CEO of KGJ cement, the company that partly owns the vessel.

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