Aristotle Onassis of his fleet, while having trouble managing their own fleets, which operated under US flags and thus at high cost. The high profitability of the Onassis fleet has been attributed in large part to his disregard for standards that normally govern international shipping. For example, after his Liberian registered tanker SS Arrow ran aground and spilled oil into Chedabucto Bay in 1970, still the most significant oil spill off Canada’s East Coast (about 25% of the amount spilled by the Exxon Valdez in Alaska in 1989), there was a Commission of Inquiry. Led by Dr Patrick McTaggart-Cowan, executive director of
Oil tanker immense numbers of fish were killed. Considering the volume of oil carried by sea, however, tanker owners' organisations often argue that the industry's safety record is excellent, with only a tiny fraction of a percentage of oil cargoes carried ever being spilled. The International Association of Independent Tanker Owners has observed that "accidental oil spills this decade have been at record low levels—one third of the previous decade and one tenth of the 1970s—at a time when oil transported has more than doubled since the mid 1980s." Oil tankers are only one source of oil spills. According to the United