Exxon Valdez
 The Exxon Valdez, 1989
| |
| History | |
|---|---|
 USA | |
| Name | Exxon Valdez |
| Namesake | The port of Valdez, Alaska |
| Ordered | 1 August 1984[1] |
| Builder | National Steel and Shipbuilding Company, San Diego |
| Laid down | 24 July 1985 |
| Launched | 14 October 1986 |
| In service | 11 December 1986 |
| Renamed | Exxon Mediterranean |
| Refit | June 30, 1989 |
| Identification | list error: <br /> list (help) IMO number 8414520[1] MMSI number 356270000[2] Callsign 3EPL6[2] |
| Fate | Repaired and renamed, transferred to foreign trade. |
| History | |
| USA | |
| Name | Sea River Mediterranean |
| Ordered | SeaRiver Maritime |
| In service | 1989 |
| Renamed | list error: <br /> list (help) S/R Mediterranean Mediterranean |
| Identification | list error: <br /> list (help) IMO number 8414520[1] MMSI number 356270000[2] Callsign 3EPL6[2] |
| Fate | Transferred to Marshall Islands register. |
| History | |
 Marshall Islands | |
| Name | Mediterranean |
| In service | 2005 |
| Identification | list error: <br /> list (help) IMO number 8414520[1] MMSI number 356270000[2] Callsign 3EPL6[2] |
| Nickname(s) | moto moto |
| Status | Sold to Hong Kong Bloom Shipping, 2008 |
| History | |
 Panama | |
| Name | Dong Fang Ocean |
| Owner | Hong Kong Bloom Shipping Ltd. |
| In service | 2008 |
| Identification | list error: <br /> list (help) IMO number 8414520[1] MMSI number 356270000[2] Callsign 3EPL6[2] |
| Status | In service as ore carrier |
| General characteristics | |
| Type | VLCC |
| Tonnage | 110,831 tons |
| Displacement | 211,469 tons (214,862 metric tons) |
| Length | 301 m (987.5 ft) |
| Beam | 51 m (166.24 ft) |
| Draft | 20 m (64.63 ft) |
| Installed power | 31,650 bhp (23,601 kW) at 79 rpm |
| Propulsion | Eight-cylinder, reversible, slow-speed Sulzer marine diesel engine. |
| Speed | 16.25 knots (30.10 km/h; 18.70 mph) |
| Capacity | 1.48 million barrels (235,000 m³) of crude oil |
| Crew | 21 |
Exxon Valdez was the original name of an oil tanker owned by the former Exxon Shipping Company, a division of the former Exxon Corporation. It was later called Exxon Mediterranean,[3] SeaRiver Mediterranean, S/R Mediterranean, Mediterranean, and currently Dong Fang Ocean. The ship gained notoriety after the March 24, 1989 oil spill in which the tanker, captained by Joseph Hazelwood and bound for Long Beach, California, hit Prince William Sound's Bligh Reef and spilled an estimated minimum 40,900 m³ (10.8 million US gallons, 257,000 oil barrels) of crude oil in Alaska. This has been recorded as one of the largest spills in United States history and one of the largest ecological disasters.[4] In 1999, the Exxon Valdez oil spill was listed as the 53rd largest spill in history.
Career
The tanker is 301 meters long, 50 meters wide, 27 meters depth (987 ft, 166 ft, 88 ft), weighing 30,000 tons empty and powered by a 23.60 MW (31,650 shp) diesel engine. The ship can transport up to 235,000 m³ (1.48 million barrels / 200,000 t) at a sustained speed of 30 km/h (16.25 knots). Its hull design is of the single-hull type. It was built by National Steel and Shipbuilding Company in San Diego. A relatively new tanker at the time of the spill, it was delivered to Exxon in December 1986.
At the time of the spill the Exxon Valdez was employed to transport crude oil from the Alyeska consortium's pipeline terminal in Valdez, Alaska, to the lower 48 states of the United States. At the time it ran aground, the vessel was carrying about 201,000 m³ (53.1 million gallons of oil). After the spill, the vessel was towed to San Diego, arriving on June 10, 1989, and repairs were started on June 30, 1989. Approximately 1,600 tons of steel were removed and replaced that July, totaling US$30 million of repairs to the tanker. Its single-hull design remained unaltered.
After repairs, the Exxon Valdez was renamed the Exxon Mediterranean, then SeaRiver Mediterranean in the early 1990s, when Exxon transferred their shipping business to a new subsidiary company, SeaRiver Maritime Inc. The name was later shortened to S/R Mediterranean, then to simply Mediterranean in 2005. Although Exxon tried briefly to return the ship to its North American fleet, it was prohibited by law from returning to Prince William Sound.[5] It then served in Europe, the Middle East and Asia.[6] In 2002, the ship was again removed from service.[7][8] In 2005, it began operating under the Marshall Islands flag of convenience.[9] Since then, European Union regulations have also prevented vessels with single-hull designs such as the Valdez from entering European ports.[10] It is currently in service in East Asia. In early 2008, SeaRiver Maritime, an ExxonMobil subsidiary, sold the Mediterranean to a Hong Kong-based shipping company named Hong Kong Bloom Shipping Ltd., which renamed the ship once again as Dong Fang Ocean, now under Panama registry. During 2008, the ship was refitted, converting it from an oil tanker to an ore carrier. Dong Fang Ocean remains in service as of 2009 in this new configuration.
Litigation
Litigation was filed on behalf of 38,000 litigants. In 1994, a jury awarded plaintiffs US$287 million in compensatory damages and US$5 billion in punitive damages. Exxon appealed and the Ninth Circuit court reduced the punitive damages to US$2.5 billion. Exxon then appealed the punitive damages to the Supreme Court which capped the damages to US$507.5 million in June, 2008. On August 27, 2008, Exxon Mobil agreed to pay 75% of the US$507.5 million damages ruling to settle the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill off Alaska.[11] In June 2009, a federal ruling ordered Exxon to pay an additional US$480 million in interest on their delayed punitive damage awards.[12]
According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, there are approximately 98 m³ (26,000 gallons) of Valdez crude oil still in Alaska's sand and soil.[13]
References
- ^ a b c d e Auke Visser's Historical Tankers Site
- ^ a b c d e f g h "Dong Fang Ocean - Type of ship: Cargo Ship - Callsign: 3EPL6". vesseltracker.com. Retrieved 2010-04-08.
- ^ Auke Visser, Esso Related Tankers
- ^ "Frequently Asked Questions About the Spill". Exxon Valdez Oil Spill Trustee Council. Retrieved 2008-09-21.
- ^ Musgrave, Ruth S. (1998). Federal Wildlife Laws Handbook with Related Laws. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield Publishing Group. ISBN 9780865875579.
- ^ Little, Robert. "Nation & World | The former Exxon Valdez faces retirement | Seattle Times Newspaper". Community.seattletimes.nwsource.com. Retrieved 2010-04-08.
- ^ "The former Exxon Valdez faces retirement" By Robert Little, Baltimore Sun, October 17, 2002. http://community.seattletimes.nwsource.com/archive/?date=20021017&slug=newexxon17
- ^ "9th Circuit bars Exxon Valdez from operating", By David Kravets, The Associated Press,November 01, 2002. http://www.berkeleydailyplanet.com/issue/2002-11-01/article/15814?headline=9th-Circuit-bars-Exxon-Valdez-from-operating
- ^ "Headlines 2005q1". Coltoncompany.com. 2005-03-22. Retrieved 2010-04-08.
- ^ "Only Double Hull Tankers Now Into EU Ports" By Tanker World, May 3, 2007
- ^ Wakabayashi, Daisuke (2008-08-27). "Exxon agrees to pay out 75 percent of Valdez damages". Thomson Reuters. Retrieved 2008-09-20.
- ^ "Exxon must pay US$480 million in interest over Valdez oil tanker spill, Los Angeles Times, June 16 2009". Latimes.com. 2009-06-16. Retrieved 2010-04-08.
- ^ http://www.fakr.noaa.gov/notice/75fr3706.pdf