Word: captain
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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Exxon refuses to discuss Hazelwood, including stories about his ship- handling feats. In 1985, for instance, Hazelwood was captain of the Exxon Chester, an asphalt carrier, as it headed from New York to South Carolina. Offshore of Atlantic City the ship ran into a freak storm. High winds snapped the ship's mast, and it toppled, along with the ship's radar and electronics gear. With 30-ft. waves and 50-knot winds overpowering the vessel, several sailors grabbed life jackets and prepared to abandon ship. But Hazelwood calmed the crew and rigged a makeshift antenna. After radioing shore...
Nine months later, he was confronted by his boss and close friend, Captain Mark Pierce, an Exxon supervisor in Baytown, Texas. He urged Hazelwood to seek treatment before he "got into trouble." In April 1985 he entered a 28-day alcohol rehabilitation program at a Long Island hospital. A doctor at the time found the skipper "depressed and demoralized...
...supposed to relieve Cousins, but the third mate had told him to take his time. In any case, Hazelwood ordered Cousins to make a right turn back into the outbound lanes when the vessel reached a navigational point near Busby Island, three miles north of Bligh Reef. The captain then returned to his cabin, just 15 ft. and one stairway from the bridge, reportedly to complete his paperwork...
...late. "We are in trouble," Cousins told Hazelwood over the phone. Moments earlier, the captain had felt the first shock of his ship -- and his career -- hitting the rocks. Hazelwood bolted onto the bridge, slowed the engines and took other steps to keep the ship from sliding off the reef...
...CAPTION: CAPTAIN...