Double-hulled tanker Double-hulled tanker A double-hulled tanker refers to an oil tanker which has a double hull. They reduce the likelihood of leaks occurring than in single-hulled tankers, and their ability to prevent or reduce oil spills led to double hulls being standardized for oil tankers and other types of ships including by the International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships or MARPOL Convention. After the Exxon Valdez oil spill disaster in Alaska in 1989, the US Government required all new oil tankers built for use between US ports to be equipped with a full double hull. A number of
History of the oil tanker ships with oil instead of coal, mass-production of automobiles and increasing aviation, all increased demand for oil and thus oil transport. In 1928 the World's largest oil tanker was the , completed that year for Canadian owners by Bremer Vulkan in Germany. With the right connections at the Shipping Board, ships could be bought cheaply, which caused a lot of fraud. This system was too complicated for the oil companies however, so when World War II started, independents owned 39 percent of the world tanker fleet. This was especially because oil companies needed capital to invest in the growing oil