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EXXON VALDEZ OIL SPILL - Coggle Diagram
EXXON VALDEZ OIL SPILL
KEY FACTS
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250,000 seabirds, 2,800 sea otters, up to 300 harbour seals, 250 bald eagles and at least 22 killer whales were killed
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CAUSES
They hit a reef because they were unaware of the depths and the correct navigation routes leading in the crew being unaware of the problems in depth which led to them hitting the reef
It was not double hulled, which means there was only one thick layer of metal, and when the hull hit the rock reef it was completely destroyed, a single hull can only stand ice impact (developed because of what happened to the Titanic and the Brittanic) and not rock impacts. A modern day hull has two or more layers which protect it from a normal reef incident
They took a different route, that was unauthorised and uncharted resulting in them not knowing where they were going and they were not properly aware of the depths of the water
It was a rock impact, the rock impact caused the hull to split open, if it was ice, the hull would be damaged but it would not break, or leak. The rock was able to penetrate the hull as the metal was not strong enough to stay intact with a rock collision
The captain was drunk causing him to not think rationally about what was being done and his actions were not fully justifiable.
CONSEQUENCES
The vessel Exxon Valdez was never allowed to go through the Prince William Sound route ever again as it could cause more damage to the area. This further resulted in Exxon losing more money as the longer journeys resulted in the Exxon Valdez permanently going out of order in 2008.
250,000 seabirds, 2,800 sea otters, up to 300 harbour seals, 250 bald eagles and at least 22 killer whales were killed resulting in major loss for the ecosystem and the damages that were put on the marine life is seen up to date
Exxon lost 2.1 billion US$ of their funding because their sponsors didn’t want to support them after this catastrophe, and they had to cover the damages on the vessel, the compensation for lost lives and the price for the cleanup.
The captain who was drunk was fined 50,000$ and 1000 hours of community service, due to his incompetence and lack of professionalism, according to the board of Exxon his behavior was unacceptable and he was released from his position 3 weeks after the incident, and once his trial for the responsibility of the event was conducted. In the trial he pled guilty to drinking on the job and for the oil spill and therefore had his license stripped away from him.
11 million gallons of crude oil was released into the gulf of Alaska resulting in the mass killing of marine life and birds. The birds and marine life were trapped in the oil and due to that died.
Cleaning up the beaches, nearly 600 million$ have been put into cleaning up the beaches, by Exxon alone, an extra 15 million $ have been added by local groups and NGOs to try mitigate any further damages
The route used, the Prince William Sound was completely shut, to make sure that no other issues took place, making things worse or to increase the damages.