Bill Allen (businessman) Barbados as well. VECO also was a worldwide player in the oil industry, having divisions in many major oil markets, including the Sudan, Russia, Mexico, Venezuela and Syria. VECO had a major impact on the economy of Alaska and employed over 5,000 people worldwide. On March 24, 1989, the oil tanker Exxon Valdez ran aground on Bligh Reef, spilling eleven million gallons of crude oil into the waters of Prince William Sound. The Exxon Valdez oil spill was the second largest in United States history, after the BP Gulf of Mexico Deepwater Horizon spill. Under Allen's guidance, VECO (along with
Architecture of the oil tanker Egg tanker this area is reduced to 66,000 m³. This reduces maintenance and corrosion risks, which otherwise may result in structural failure. An oil tanker's inert gas system is one of the most important parts of its design. Fuel oil itself is very difficult to ignite, however its hydrocarbon vapors are explosive when mixed with air in certain concentrations. The purpose of the system is to create an atmosphere inside tanks in which the hydrocarbon oil vapors cannot burn. As inert gas is introduced into a mixture of hydrocarbon vapors and air, it increases the lower flammable limit or lowest