Word: valdez
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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...Once the Valdez had run aground, however, the Coast Guard says it had no trouble spotting the stricken tanker on radar because it presented a wider profile and was standing higher in water. Many mariners dismiss the Coast Guard's explanation. "That's a ridiculous contention because any way you turn this vessel, it's as big as a building," says Michael Chalos, a maritime attorney who represents Hazelwood. "She has a beam of 166 ft. and a height from the waterline of about 75 ft. when fully loaded. The Coast Guard is trying to cover up for the fact...
...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...
...Second Mate LeCain had climbed out of bed before the accident to replace Third Mate Cousins, the Valdez might also have got a more competent helmsman. Thanks in part to the high turnover of Exxon crews, Kagan, the helmsman on duty at the time of the accident, had been promoted to able seaman just one year earlier from his job as room steward and food server in the ship's galley. Kagan "does the best he can, but you have to watch him," a deck officer later told Government investigators. Knowing this, LeCain had planned to replace Kagan with another...
...with a friend in order to earn money. The work is filthy, but it helps keep Hazelwood's mind off his new role as America's Environmental Enemy No. 1. It will probably be 1990 before Exxon and the National Transportation Safety Board release their reports on the Valdez spill. Meanwhile, late-night comics continue to rip into the skipper, and several songs about a drunken Hazelwood play on Alaskan radio stations. Not long ago, a businessman called Hazelwood to ask permission to market a novelty item called Ole Hazelwood -- a liquor bottle filled with oil and water...
Journalists always want their stories to be the best -- and the first. This week's issue features what we think are two notable examples of excellence and exclusivity. Correspondents Richard Behar and Scott Brown take a penetrating second look at the Exxon Valdez disaster. And in a special five-page section, Washington correspondent David Aikman talks with Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn in the first major interview the Soviet writer has given to any U.S. news organization since...