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Exxon Valdez

Career
Ordered: ?
Laid down: ?
Launched: March 23, 1989
Delivered: 11 December 1986
Fate: "mothballed" in undisclosed Mediterranean port
Laid Up: September 2002
General Characteristics
Displacement: 211,469 tons
Length: 300 m (987 ft)
Beam: 50 m (166 ft)
Draft: 20 m (64.5 ft)
Speed: 16.25 knots (30 km/h)
Complement: 21 crew
Cargo Capacity: 1.48 million barrels (235,000 m³) of crude oil

Exxon Valdez was the original name of an oil tanker owned by the Exxon oil company. The ship was renamed to "Sea River Mediterranean" after the March 24, 1989 oil spill in which the tanker hit Prince William Sound's Bligh Reef and spilled between 11 million and 35 million US gallons (42,000 and 132,000 m³) of crude oil that killed billions of animals; this was the Exxon Valdez oil spill, or the EVOS.

The vessel has an all steel construction, built by National Steel and Shipbuilding Company in San Diego. It was delivered to Exxon in December, 1986. The tanker is 300 m (987 ft) long, 50 m (166 ft) wide and 27 m (88 ft) in depth, weighing 30,000 tons empty and powered by a 31,650 shp (24 MW) diesel engine. The vessel could transport a maximum of 1.48 million barrels (200,000 t) at a sustained speed of 16.25 knots (30 km/h) and was employed to transport crude oil from the Alyeska consortium's pipeline terminal in Valdez, Alaska to the lower 48 states of the United States. The vessel was carrying about 1.26 million barrels, or about 53 million gallons. The vessel is still hauling oil but is prohibited by law to enter Prince William Sound ever again.

It makes a cameo appearance in the film Waterworld.

Last updated: 10-29-2005 02:13:46