Walter B. Parker Act, which was signed into law in 1980 by U.S. President Jimmy Carter. On March 24, 1989, the Exxon Valdez oil tanker struck Bligh Reef in Prince William Sound, spilling an estimated 260,000 to 750,000 barrels of crude oil. The Exxon Valdez oil spill was a major environmental disaster for the state. Governor Steve Cowper, who held office at the time of the spill, appointed Walter Parker as the chairman of the Alaska Oil Spill Commission in 1989. The Alaska Oil Spill Commission was created by the Alaska state government to investigate the causes of the Exxon Valdez oil spill.
History of the oil tanker first time when the US Coast Guard took on the salvage of the "Argo Merchant", although the vessel was in international waters. This was the first time the monopoly of flag states was broken through. The Exxon Valdez oil spill was the incentive to introduce legislation requiring tankers to have a double hull, a measure that is not seen as the best solution by all experts. Where a double hull should minimize the consequences after a disaster, Concordia Maritime developed the "Stena V-MAX", a VLCC with two propellers, two rudders and two redundant engine rooms, where a single fault does