In the brand new series of Mega Movers, we follow the relocation of the largest, heaviest and least mobile historic structures imaginable. In this episode, we reveal how ships often need to be moved large distances, over the land. We observe the crucial planning process, explaining how skilled Mega Movers have to pay detailed and close attention to size, weight, weather and clearance.

Although ships are built for the water, Mega Movers frequently attempt to move them across land. An early example of this practice occurred in 1453 when an Ottoman sultan moved his fleet of 100 warships overland. The mighty Queen Mary, which is 1,018 feet long and weighs more than 77,500 tonnes, provides us with a more contemporary example.

Since 1967, this dinosaur of ocean liners - and former Second World War troop transport ship – has been parked in dry dock.  We ask what would happen if it needed to be moved inland in the future. The Queen Mary would be the largest ship ever hauled across land, pushing the limits of machines and Mega Movers’ ingenuity.

In Charleston, South Carolina a 140 foot long, 150 tonne replica of a famous 1879 schooner has to be hauled from dry-dock one mile through narrow city streets to the harbour where it will be launched.  Tough under any conditions, the escapade becomes wholly terrifying in the face of approaching violent storms.