THE ethereal silhouette of the world’s largest ship anchored in waters off North-East shores has emerged from swathes of sea fret.

The 190,000 tonne Pioneering Spirit has arrived in Hartlepool after picking up the world’s heaviest cargo load that is bound for a River Tees port.

The Northern Echo:

The haunting image of Pioneering Spirit - the world's largest ship - anchored at Hartlepool. Picture: PAUL KINGSTON/NNP

The £2.5bn vessel that is the length of six Boeing 747 planes arrived on Monday morning after setting sail from Shetland over the weekend.

Pioneering Spirit set a new world lifting record by picking up a 24,000 tonne decommissioned oil rig from Britain’s early oil and gas industry days.

The 130m-high “topside” Delta platform from the Brent oilfield in the North Sea is due to be delivered to Hartlepool’s Able Seaton Port to be broken up and recycled by the firm across a 12-month period.