HDMS Absalon, one of the most modern warships in the world, has set sail to stop modern-day pirates off the coast of Somalia.

Multipurpose Heavy Lifter MV Beluga Bremen is the world's first multi-purpose, heavy-lift cargo carrier that can hoist more than 1,400 tons; travel with her on her maiden voyage to transport two 820-tonne mining autoclaves to the Dominican Republic.

T-AKE Military Supply Ship USNS Robert E. Peary is a T-AKE 5 supply ship, built for 21st century warfare; join Peary on active deployment in the hot zone of the Gulf of Aden, replenishing a fleet of 20 warships.

Saturation Dive Support Ship DSV Skandi Arctic is the biggest and newest saturation dive support ship, the mother ship for aquanauts working hundreds of metres below the surface in some of the world's most dangerous jobs; see her in action on a gas pipeline repair in the North Sea.

Super Ferry Stena Britannica is a car carrier, passenger ferry, cargo transport and cruise ship all rolled into one; watch her as she enters active service on the busiest ferry route in the world, between Holland and England.

USCGC Bertholf was built for U.S. Homeland Security to patrol the high seas, looking for drugs, weapons, human trafficking, piracy and traditional search-and-rescue missions; join her on patrol in the dangerous waters off Colombia.

Research Icebreaker Canadian Coast Guard Ship Amundsen is a research icebreaker who job is to battle Arctic extremes to understand how gobal warming will radically change life in the high Arctic; the crew and scientists face extreme pressure on this dangerous mission.

The FPSO Maersk Peregrino is the world's biggest oil production ship and is permanently hooked up at the Peregrino oil field.

She's brand-new and about to make history. The Dutch company Van Oord has just received its new fallpipe vessel called Stornes. She deploys a long hollow pipe that runs from the ship to the seafloor. Rocks are loaded into the pipe and "fall" down to the bottom, hence the term "fallpipe". The rocks are used to provide foundations and protection for pipelines that are then laid on the ocean floor. Stornes has been designed and built specifically for this purpose. Now, MIGHTY SHIPS follows Stornes on a project that has her working deeper than any other fallpipe vessel in history.

She's the "Swiss Army Knife" of the US Navy. Recovery of downed aircraft, towing of sunken vessels, or clearing of debris to reopen a harbor in the wake of a natural disaster... USNS Grasp has done it all. Her cranes enable deep-sea salvage of all sorts. But what makes her special is her ability to support a team of up to 14 Navy divers on dangerous mixed-gas descents to depths of more than 200 metres. She's one of only four vessels in the entire US fleet capable of doing so.

Consistently voted the world's top cruise ship by Condé Nast, Crystal Serenity is full of luxuries. She features contemporary suites, dining by the likes of Nobu, even penthouse suites with a full-service butler. And her guests keep coming back for more - half the passengers on any given sailing are repeat bookings. This cruise will take MIGHTY SHIPS into ports viewers have never seen before, including: the famous sites of Sydney harbour, the port of Melbourne, beautiful Bali and a large-scale furniture load in Semarang, Indonesia.

With 7.5 tons of steel salvaged from the wreckage of the Twin Towers forming her bow stem, USS New York is tribute to those who perished on September 11, 2001. From the images of the World Trade Center, to the banner listing the fallen, to the Broadway street sign donated by NYC's mayor, this ship is a powerful symbol. But she's more than that.

She's an all-in-one mega fishing trawler and factory. Northern Eagle can catch and package fish at the same time. She creates more profit because she doesn't waste time (and fuel) bringing her catch back to shore to be processed. In fact, once she's out to sea, Northern Eagle doesn't return to port until her hold is full of 1500 tonnes of frozen, packaged product ready for market.

Purpose-built to install the world's most powerful wind turbines. Imagine a ship that can raise herself up 15 metres (5 storeys) out of the water to create a stable construction platform in the middle of the sea. Now add a 600-ton crane ready to reach high into the sky. That's Neptune: brand-new, ready and willing to install the world's heaviest and most powerful wind turbines on Belgium's first offshore wind farm.

For the first time, our crews venture inside a shipyard to follow the construction of the world's newest mega-cruiser from keel-laying to sea trials.

The Avataq is a lifeline to Canada's near-Arctic communities, carrying everything from food and furniture to mining equipment and explosives to Quebec's inaccessible northern regions.

Other cable laying vessels require a second vessel to transport one end of their cables to shore. Stemat Spirit approaches the shore during high tide, then settles on the sand as the tide recedes. When the tide returns she floats up and sails out to sea, laying her cable as she goes.

Over seven seasons, Mighty Ships has featured 42 of the biggest, most technologically advanced on the planet. This special edition will feature the best of the best: from the world's largest cruise ships to the most powerful warships, from the strongest working ships to smaller, super-specialized vessels.

With a specialized crane system and five propellers to counter heavy seas, North Sea Giant can perform powerful and precise lifts in seas as high as 4.5 metres – four times the capability of other such vessels. On this voyage, she’s out to lift and install the final massive module of the world’s first subsea gas compression station nearly 300 metres underwater. But when strong winds and currents threaten the delicate operation, her team of underwater robots must come to the rescue before the module crashes the entire project!

Tønsberg carries anything that can be rolled up her ramp: not just automobiles and bulldozers, but also heavy, awkward-sized cargo such as cranes, subway trains, or yachts. In some of the busiest ro-ro ports in Europe, Tønsberg’s crew rushes to overcome the obstacles that could delay her. Sailing across the Atlantic, two storms threaten to cross her path as the crew keeps a sharp eye on the lashings that hold the cargo in place.

Almost three football fields long, the USNS Comfort is second in size only to U.S. Navy aircraft carriers. She is the largest hospital ship on the planet, with up to 1,200 crew, 12 operating rooms, 1,000 beds, and an impressive array of medical equipment. MIGHTY SHIPS joins the USNS Comfort midway through “Operation Continuing Promise” – a six-month mission to provide humanitarian aid to 11 countries in the Caribbean and Latin America. Sailing to the tiny Caribbean island of Dominica, Comfort’s crew sets out to aid 10,000 patients in just nine days.

Northern Leader is Alaska’s biggest and toughest longliner. Catching fish with hooks, not nets, she sends out 80 kilometres of fishing line containing 76,000 hooks. In the heart of the Bering Sea, her crew battles a hurricane with 13 metre-high waves and winds of more than 110 kilometres per hour. All the while, this 56-metre ship keeps fishing – bringing home a massive catch of Pacific Cod – until one deckhand working is washed out by a powerful wave.

One of the world’s most advanced drill ships builds an oil well more than 2000 metres below the waterline in the Gulf of Mexico.

The world’s most adventurous cruise ship fights through the ice-choked fjords of Greenland to visit a spectacular collection of wildlife and icebergs.

Noronna ferries passengers, vehicles and millions-dollar cargo to Iceland and the Faroe Islands