Word: tankerful
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...Edward Brooke, sponsored legislation to deal with an environmental threat that Kennedy described as "absolutely devastating." The record seemed to support that view. The latest incidents, suggesting a kind of seaborne demolition derby, were a grim finale to what has turned out to be the worst year ever for tanker accidents. Worldwide, 19 tankers sank, went aground or blew up in 1976-almost double the 1975 toll in tonnage. In the first nine months of last year alone, tankers spilled nearly 200,000 tons of oil in various mishaps...
Much of that spilling occurred in U.S. waters. One reason is that the East Coast and Gulf ports are shallow and cannot accommodate the biggest and most modern tankers. The result is that much of the U.S.'s oil imports are supplied by a motley collection of smaller tankers that are often old, ill-equipped and indifferently manned. The U.S.'s daily consumption of foreign oil equals the capacity of 35 Argo Merchant-size tankers. With so much tanker traffic -an average of 30,000 arrivals a year -accidents are inevitable. By the Coast Guard's reckoning...
Much of the regulatory ire is aimed at ships of foreign registry, which account for more than 95% of U.S. tanker traffic. The maritime union chiefs, who never pass up an opportunity to attack the foreign flagships-which have virtually taken over the American oil trade because high U.S. labor costs have all but priced U.S.-flag tankers out of the market-have been particularly vocal...
Marine Engineers Beneficial Association Leader Jesse Calhoon cited lax Liberian standards for licensing ship captains as one reason for all the tanker problems. In Liberia, he says-with considerable exaggeration-"you could be throwing coconuts out of a tree last week and be the master of a vessel this week...
Indeed, many tanker accidents are the result of human error, and there is real reason for concern over the uneven experience and training of tanker captains and crews (see box). What to do? The usual complaint is that worldwide shipping is so diffuse that effective regulation is impossible. As Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Warren Magnuson put it last week: "I don't see how you can have control when you have American-owned ships insured by the British, run by the Greeks, with Italian officers and a Chinese crew...