Exxon Valdez Exxon Valdez Oriental Nicety, formerly Exxon Valdez, Exxon Mediterranean, SeaRiver Mediterranean, S/R Mediterranean, Mediterranean, and Dong Fang Ocean, was an oil tanker that gained notoriety after running aground in Prince William Sound spilling hundreds of thousands of barrels of crude oil in Alaska. On March 24, 1989, while owned by the former Exxon Shipping Company, and captained by Joseph Hazelwood and First Mate James Kunkel bound for Long Beach, California, the vessel ran aground on the Bligh Reef resulting in the second largest oil spill in United States history. The size of the spill is estimated to have been ,
History of the oil tanker in 1967 caused a public awareness about the environmental dangers of oil tankers. Oil companies united in 1970 in the Oil Companies International Marine Forum to become involved in the following issuing of rules such as MARPOL 73. In 1968 also the International Tanker Owners Pollution Federation was founded to indemnify the victims. For tanker owners, the Six-Day War of 1967 was of greater importance. The Suez Canal closed until 1975 and freight rates skyrocketed because of the shortage of tonnage now ships had to pass the Cape of Good Hope. Even larger tankers were now built, as the limitations