Exxon Valdez

[sisko111]

just for remember on March 24,1989 -18 years from the worst tanker accident ever happened.
28.000 tonnes of crude oil was lost and 1900 km of Alaska coast was polluted and destroyed.

[CedricH]

Hi,

too bad that it just had to happen in front of one of the most beautifull coasts
I hope the industry has learned from this accident

Regards
Cedric

[acimoto]

Man will never change......... :-(

[rgr004]

worst tanker accident !!!!!!!

What about Amoco Cadiz off Brittany on 16 th March 1978 ?

If my memory is correct she was loaded with more than 220,000 mt of crude oil.

Roland

[Magogman]

As much of a tragedy as it was, and preventable as it was, it was not one of the worst tanker accidents.  There have been far worse diasters involving tankers and much, much more oil spilled.  In terms of the amount of oil spilled the Exxon Valdez spill was rather minor compared to other spills although occurring in confined waters in a pristine -almost wilderness environment -with poor response it definitely had a major impact on the environment of Prince William Sound.  Litigation involving the Exxon Valdez still continues in the courts.

Unfortunately an accident like this was bound to happen sooner or later given the operating constraints in Prince William Sound and the amount of tanker traffic.  

Anyone in the U.S. who drives an automobile, including me, is responsible for the accident.  End of sermon.

[jnrawdon]

It is also the 40th anniversary of the grounding of the Torrey Canyon off Cornwall today, 24, March 2007, that was a massive oil spill.

[Eivind Killengreen]

As to Torrey Canyon, that's not completely accurate is it? She struck Pollard Rock (Seven Stone reef) 18th (or 19th, depending on which account you read) of March 1967. She was bombed to smithereens by RAF starting 29th of March. She finally sank on 30th of March.

There are a number of accounts covering the accident, but this one is rather good as it also analyses some of the reasons as to why the accident happened: http://www.lboro.ac.uk/departments/hu/ergsinhu/aboutergs/lasttrip.html

A few aerial shots were taken in connection with the disaster. They are quite dramatic and can be seen here: http://www.axfordsabode.org.uk/torreycn.htm . Note the last picture - oil pollution clean-up, 1967-style... :-(

[mara]

Did you know that EXXON VALDEZ as S/R MEDITERRANEAN was a reguar guest here in Nort Adriatic Sea in mid 90s?
In 1994 she was on repairs in the Shipyard Fincantieri Monfalcone, when she also got a new name S/R MEDITERRANEAN and  made quite a lot trial voyages in the Trieste Gulf.

In the next few years, till 1998 she also made some commercial voyages to port of Trieste and nowadays is almost 10 years since she dissapeared from Adriatic Sea....
Regards.

[Stuart Scott]

While the environmental damage was bad, my personal view is that 'Exxon Valdez' was the defining moment when seafarers became second class citizens.

Exxon Valdez gave us;
- Exxon's dominance of Mobil, and the complete sale of the non-US flag tanker fleet
- the end of Mobil's long standing recruit-train-advance programme for it's seagoing officers
- Random D&A testing
- Restricted access to shore and shore leave (even before Sept 11)
- Terminal vetting reports which can end a Master's career over one disagreement

I am a firm believer that if your business in the maritime environment, then you have an obligation to develop the next generation in some tangible way. ExonMobil's complete 'push away' from employing ships officers and ratings might look good on the balance sheet, but does nothing for the industry. People don't function like robots - the community that is a ship and its crew needs to know that its valued for the teamwork and service.

Stepping down off his soapbox....

Stuart Scott
Melbourne, Australia

[tugboat33]

Not even close to the worst. It was at the time only 18th on the list I believe. I read recently it is 53rd on the list if you count things like Sadam spilling oil on purpose into the Persian Gulf.

[captkell]

I have published a book titled Exxon Valdez 18 Years and Counting. We still have not been paid.

*Release Source:  Kellie Kvasnikoff

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Kellie Kvasnikoff Aims to increase public awareness of the Exxon Valdez Oil Spill and Exxon???s failure to pay the plaintiffs with a book titled Exxon Valdez 18 Years And Counting.

Kirkland, WA???July 12, 2007??? Kellie Kvasnikoff writes about the facts of the case and how it has and is affecting him today.

Exxon Valdez 18 Years And Counting is a guide to the legal explanation of the case and a resource for the public to better understand the attitude Exxon maintains towards people and the environment.

Kellie Kvasnikoff wrote Exxon Valdez 18 Years And Counting to help others understand the pain, loss, offensiveness, and nauseating effects this legal case has brought the plaintiff???s of the Exxon Valdez Oil Spill and to give a view from a Native perspective of the loss to his native culture.  Exxon Valdez 18 Years And Counting is available for purchase at www.lulu.com/captkell

A Montgomery County jury returned a verdict in December 2000, finding that Exxon defrauded Alabama on royalties from natural gas wells in state waters. The jury awarded the state $87.7 million in compensatory damages and $3.42 billion in punitive damages (Athan Manuel, 2007).
3.42 billion in punitive damages awarded in the Alabama case is virtually 1 billion more than the award set by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals for us Plaintiff???s in the Exxon Valdez and this was for stealing oil.  How can it be that we the plaintiff???s of the Exxon Valdez, rate below theft? Does stealing outweigh the destruction of human lives, cultural traditions, financial means, land, sea life, and other animals?  One would believe so based solely on this case.  Given the facts there is just no word for me to describe how offensive and nauseating this is.

Link to Publication*:  http://www.lulu.com/captkell

ABOUT AUTHOR
Kellie Kvasnikoff is an Alaska Native who was raised on the waters of Cook Inlet. His family founded the village of Ninilchik, Alaska in the 1800???s. He was a commercial fisherman, handed down since time immemorial. He was forced into a career change as a result of the Exxon Valdez Oil Spill. He was 25 years old when this disaster happened and is now 43.


# # #
MEDIA CONTACT:   Kellie Kvasnikoff, [email protected]

[captkell]

The spill covered over 11,000 square miles of Alaska's coastal ocean. It oiled more than 1,500 miles of shoreline; the spill region contained more than 9,000 miles of shoreline, including three national parks, four national wildlife refuges, a national forest, five state parks, four state critical habitat areas, one state game sanctuary, and the ancestral lands of many Alaska Natives. An area the size of Connecticut, Delaware, Rhode Island, and 25 Washington, D.C.s combined!  250,000 dead birds, 2,800 sea otters, and 300 harbor seals were collected and incinerated, and countless other organisms up and down the food chain were killed. 18 years later it doesn

[captkell]

The ship Exxon Valdez was born from the National Steel and Shipbuilding Co. shipyard in 1986. The ship was designed and built for only one purpose, hauling crude oil from the terminus of the Trans-Alaska Pipeline at Valdez south to Panama and on occasion to the U.S. West Coast. After the grounding the ship was floated off the reef, and makeshift repairs were made. Then, under its own power and surrounded by tugboats, it limped down the Pacific Coast to the San Diego shipyard where it was built. The Valdez was renamed Exxon Mediterranean before it left the yard, then dubbed SeaRiver Mediterranean in 1993, when Exxon turned over its vessel operations to a subsidiary, SeaRiver Maritime Inc. Now emptied of cargo, fuel, supplies and anything flammable or perishable, it is anchored off a foreign port that its owners won't divulge, in a state of deep lay-up awaiting its fate.

[Mats]

Now emptied of cargo, fuel, supplies and anything flammable or perishable, it is anchored off a foreign port that its owners won't divulge, in a state of deep lay-up awaiting its fate.

That is not correct. She has been sailing the seas for years and continue to do so. She has been renamed "Mediterranean" but is still controlled by ExxonMobil.

You can see her in Singapore in July 2002 HERE.

You can see three pictures of her at Dubai Drydocks in March / April 2006 (probably going through her 4th special survey) HERE, HERE and HERE.

She is seen off Singapore again, in November 2006, HERE.

And last, but not least, you can see her in the Mallaca Strait in late May 2007 HERE.

CaptKell, we understand you have strong feelings about ExxonMobil in general and Exxon Valdez in particular following the Exxon Valdez disaster. We are also many who find ExxonMobil's apparent lobbying against the scientific facts about climate change apalling, and who think they owe us all to think far more about renewable energy than they have done so far.

However, we should also remember that ExxonMobil is generally a respected company and, more importantly, that they have tens of thousands of employees world-wide who probably love their company and are proud of their work.

Also, you mention a USD 3.42 Bn verdict against ExxonMobil in Alabama in 2000. I do not know the case, but the jury's verdict was apparently set aside by Alabama's Supreme Court in December 2002, thus making the award irrelevant. It is also difficult to see how it compares to Exxon Valdez.

Best regards
Mats
Oslo

[captkell]

The Relevance is the punitive award. 3.42 billion in punitive damages awarded in the Alabama case is virtually 1 billion more than the award set by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals for us Plaintiff