Word: tankers
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Around him swirl a vast collection of characters: the eccentric genius in grain futures, the Texas oil man (named Tanker!), blackmailers, thieves, underground Communists, wives, children -and mistresses, mistresses, mistresses. There is no plot, only the fitfully told story of Jules' inevitable catastrophe. Mostly to affront the pretensions of a speculator he despises, Jules bets on the pound shortly before it collapses. Though there is still time to hedge, Bertillon of Bertillon goes down with his pride...
...Greatly expanded research and development funding for such problems as urban transportation alternatives to the internal combustion engine, alternative energy sources, oil tanker tracking ... and control, similar in principal to current aircraft control systems but based on the peaceful application of our satellite technology...
Efficient as they are in transporting oil across the oceans, today's huge tankers are clumsy giants, difficult to maneuver and hazardous near shore. Starting a voyage, a typical 250,000-ton tanker may require two hours or more to reach cruising speed (approximately 16 knots). Stopping is no less difficult. Even with props reversed, the steel leviathan will frequently coast up to ten miles before coming to a dead halt. A tanker can reduce that distance to less than two miles by a tactic called "slaloming"-turning in one direction and then in the other, like a racing...
...could turn on its own axis, stop in only seconds, and effectively operate with its rudder turned up to an angle of 90°. The British scientists concede that the device will probably not work as spectacularly with heavier ships. Their calculations show, however, that a 250,000-ton tanker should be able to turn completely around in only about 180 yds., and even without slaloming, come to a halt in about a third of a mile-that is, about a quarter of the distance that it now takes to stop...
...tanker, owned by the Wilheinsin Corp, of Oslo, was on charter to Texaco, Inc., whose officials announced that the corporation would assume all costs in an effort to speed up the work...