What is Exxon Valdez mistake?

Answer 1

The Exxon Valdez was a massive oil tanker owned by the Exxon Oil Company, which ran aground on the Bligh Reef in Prince William Sound, Alaska on 24th March 1989, whilst carrying a full cargo of crude oil. Although no-one was killed in the incident, it caused a leakage of up to nearly 32 million US gallons of oil into the Sound when the ship's hull ruptured, which resulted in catastrophic environmental damage and led to the death of a quarter of a million seabirds, 3,000 sea otters, 300 seals, a number of bald eagles and 22 killer whales, along with countless thousands of fish. It is the second worst man-made American oil spillage disaster to date. The ship's captain, Joseph Hazelwood, was arrested on charges of negligence and initially accused to having been drunk in charge of the supertanker, although at his trial he was cleared of this and fined $50,000 with an order to do 10,000 hours of community service. The US Government awarded $287 million in compensation claims to those whose livelihoods had been affected by the disaster, took a major role in assisting with clean-up operations, and also fined the Exxon Mobil Company $5 billion- the company appealed twice against this, and the fine was eventually reduced to just over $507 million. The Exxon Valdez, although only 3 years old at the time of the disaster, was built to a highly antiquated single-hulled design which afforded no protection against oil spillage when the vessel's structure was damaged. Following the disaster, few countries around the world would allow single-hulled tankers to dock at their oil terminals, meaning that the owners of such vessels either had to have them refitted with double-hulls, or else scrapped altogether. Most were refitted, although the unfortunate Exxon Valdez herself became something of a pariah ship following the disaster. She went through the hands of a number of Far Eastern owners before being sold for scrap and dismantled in August 2012, under the name of the Oriental Nicety.

Answer 2

The Exxon Valdez mistake was the grounding of the Exxon Valdez oil tanker on a reef in Prince William Sound, Alaska in 1989, causing a major oil spill. The mistake was the captain's decision to leave the designated shipping lane and not to adequately navigate the vessel, leading to the devastating spill that released millions of gallons of oil into the pristine waters, causing extensive environmental damage.