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What happened to the Exxon Valdez? Read on!

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posted on Feb, 4 2005 @ 07:59 AM
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First of all, if the topic has already been discussed, I invite a moderator to lock it or delete it. My search didn't turn out any similar topics, but I am not very good at it.
Lately I've been wondering what happened to the Exxon Valdez tanker after the 1989 disaster in Prince Williams' Sound. I did a little research and found the following: after the colossal oil spill, the tanker was pulled a little off coast to perform some emergency repairs to allow the ship to reach a port. Then, under its own power and accompained by oceanic tugboats, it was taken to the shipyard that built it 1986, the NASSCO works in San Diego, CA (now onwed by General Dynamics). Allegedly, the ship was to be taken to Portland, OR, but popular pressure dictated otherwise (I haven't been able to confirm this fact, please feel free to fill me in). The repairs took 11 months and costed 30 million dollars (the tanker costed 130 million by comparison) and about 30% of the ship parts had to be replaced, involving 3000 tons of material. While under repairs, it was decided to rename the ship Exxon Mediterranean and to use it on the Middle East-European routes. Then, because of popular pressure and changing corporation politics, Exxon decided to transfer the tanker to Sea River Inc, a controlled company, and rename it SeaRiver Mediterranean. The ship served quietly on many European and Asian routes for eleven years, without a single accident. From time to time a local newspaper or enviromental group found out the true identity of the ship and it was "rediscovered". On at least one occasion, Greenpeace allegedly tried to paint the name "Exxon Valdez" on the ship's sides (again, this is unconfirmed). The tanker was not built to be used on these route and it was highly uneconomical to run, still it soldiered on until 2002 (rumours have that Exxon hoped to have the lifelong ban on the ship lifted by Alaskan authorities to return it to the Valdez-Panama route). After languishing for several months in an undisclosed Mediterranean port, it was sent to an unnamed port in the Far East to be dismantled. Exxon and Sea River didn't supply anymore details, but at last report the Exxon Valdez had been stripped of anything useful or flammable and was ready to be dismantled. I haven't been able to track down the dismantler's whereabouts, but I strongly suspect that it's either in India or Korea.
If you have more details, feel free to give them.
Sources:
www.adn.com...
www.valdezlink.com...
www.nassco.com...
en.wikipedia.org...



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