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
Mary A. Whalen (tanker) Co.", a pivotal 1975 Supreme Court decision in maritime law after she ran aground in Rockaway Inlet in 1968. She was in active service until 1994. She was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2012. PortSide NewYork has more information about her in their e-museum Red Hook WaterStories. Mary A. Whalen (tanker) Mary A. Whalen, known as the "S.T. Kiddoo" from 1938 to 1958, is a historic oil tanker located in the Red Hook neighborhood of Brooklyn, Kings County, New York. She is the home of the non-profit PortSide NewYork, and the group runs programs aboard her.