Word: crewe
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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...Sharp cuts in the size of the tanker's crew had left the Valdez shorthanded, contributing to fatigue that may have helped cause the accident...
...though fellow seamen insist it did not seem to impair his performance, Hazelwood began to drink heavily on board, in violation of company rules. Moreover, he was not discreet about his growing problem, and invited fellow crew members to join him. "It was almost like Joe was trying to get caught," says a fellow seaman who remains a close friend. "He'd close his door, but everyone knew what went on. He always said that everything was fine, but then why was he drinking? The guy was begging for help, but he kept it all inside...
...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, he guided the Chester out of the storm. Then, with the safety of his crew and cargo in mind, Hazelwood followed the storm back to New York -- and, to his surprise, ran into a brief storm of criticism from dollar-conscious superiors...
...ship was ordered to set sail for California at 9 p.m., an hour before schedule. Squeezed for time, Hazelwood made several trips from the bridge to his cabin, say his attorneys, to labor over the cumbersome paperwork that had increasingly become his duty because of crew cutbacks. He returned to the bridge at roughly 11:15 p.m., shortly before the state's harbor pilot, following routine, departed from the ship at Rocky Point. Soon thereafter Hazelwood radioed the Coast Guard to say he would move the vessel from the outbound shipping lane to the inbound shipping lane to avoid...
...fatigue of the Valdez crew also appears to have played a role in the grounding. Personnel cutbacks throughout the merchant-marine fleet have resulted in fewer sailors working longer hours. When Hazelwood began with Exxon in 1968, as many as 40 sailors worked on ships smaller than the Valdez. But on the Valdez's maiden voyage in 1986, it sailed with a crew of 24. On Hazelwood's last journey, the crew had been cut to a bare-bones staff of 20 and was going to be trimmed to 15 in order to reduce costs further. As a consequence, twelve...