Exxon Valdez punitive damages to the Supreme Court which capped the damages to US $507.5 million in June, 2008. On August 27, 2008, Exxon Mobil agreed to pay 75% of the US $507.5 million damages ruling to settle the 1989 "Exxon Valdez" oil spill off Alaska. In June 2009, a federal ruling ordered Exxon to pay an additional US$480 million in interest on their delayed punitive damage awards. After repairs, "Exxon Valdez" was renamed "Exxon Mediterranean", then "SeaRiver Mediterranean" in the early 1990s, when Exxon transferred their shipping business to a new subsidiary company, River Maritime Inc. The name was later shortened
Oil tanker crude carriers (ULCC) built in the 1970s were over long and had a capacity of . Several factors encouraged this growth. Hostilities in the Middle East which interrupted traffic through the Suez Canal contributed, as did nationalization of Middle East oil refineries. Fierce competition among shipowners also played a part. But apart from these considerations is a simple economic advantage: the larger an oil tanker is, the more cheaply it can move crude oil, and the better it can help meet growing demands for oil. In 1955 the world's largest supertanker was and : SS "Spyros Niarchos" launched that year