The oil tanker that caused one of the world's worst ever oil spills, has been sold for scrap
Exxon
Valdez, the oil tanker that caused one of the world’s worst ever oil spills,
has been sold for scrap. Around 11 million gallons of oil gushed from the
tanker after she struck rocks in Alaska’s Prince William Sound in March 1989,
coating miles of environmentally sensitive coastline and killing thousands of
sea birds
The massive clean-up
operation launched by Exxon and the US Coast Guard eventually involved more
than 11,000 Alaskan residents and thousands of Exxon and contractor personnel,
cost $4.3 billion, and took three years to complete.
The
213,000-tonne tanker, which was only three years old at the time of her
grounding, was refloated after the
incident, repaired, and re-entered service under the new name Exxon Mediterranean.
She underwent
further name changes before being sold to Hong Kong-based owners in 2008.
She
was converted to an ore carrier and renamed Dong
Fang Ocean, but at the age of 26, has been deemed uneconomic and is destined
for the breakers’ torches.
