Joseph Hazelwood at the Wheel

The Exxon Valdez

Joseph Hazelwood, capitán del Exxon Valdez, que filtró petróleo en zonas vírgenes de Alaska, muestra cómo fueron esos minutos antes del accidente. “Le dije al guarda costa que había hielo, que requería permiso para cruzar y el guarda costa lo autorizó, dos barcos anteriores lo habían hecho”.

El capitán Hazelwood luego tomo la decisión que condenaría al barco, le entregó el mando al tercer oficial. En vocabulario: misdemeanor, outbound, mishap

Hazelwood was convicted of a lesser charge, negligent discharge of oil…

Joseph Hazelwood was accused of being intoxicated which contributed to the disaster, but was cleared of this charge at his 1990 trial. Hazelwood was convicted of a lesser charge, negligent discharge of oil (a misdemeanor), fined $50,000, and sentenced to 1,000 hours of community service.

The ship maneuvered out of the outbound traffic lane in the Traffic Separation Scheme (TSS) to avoid icebergs.

Pooled black oil is shown stranded in the rocks

Simulator Demonstrates Exxon Valdez Mishap (2, 37)

CNN's Kyra Phillips takes a close look at what went wrong on the Exxon Valdez with the ship's captain, Joseph Hazelwood.

We asked captain Hazelwood to walk us through the events of 25 years ago, in a simulator added all the models, the state university of New York, Maritime College.

—Take me back to that moment.

Back to a chain of events after the Exxon Valdez left port with Hazelwood decision to change course. Hazelwood was worried about ice from the Columbia glacier. Large chunks have broken off and floated into the shipping lane.

—Where would it have been on the radar?

—It would have been coming out of here, in this position here.

—What did you tell the coast guard at this point?

—I said there is ice on the lands. I requested permission, it´s the protocol, to cross over the separation.

I´m going to alter my course to two-zero-zero. Once we´re clear of the ice we´ll give you another shout. Over.

—And coast guard said “roger that”?

—Yes, no problem. Two ships prior to me have done it.

Although the coast guard was listening it was not watching. Even though its radar could have tracked the ship there was no requirement to look more than 6 miles out. Exxon Valdez was 8.

—So you didn’t even know you were off course radar.

—I’m not sure what range it went through but I assumed it went on it. I assumed they had that range.

Captain Hazelwood then made the decision that would doom the ship. He turned the bridge over to the third mate with instructions to turn back into the shipping lane.

—I went down to my office. There´s a paperboard to fill up with the latest weather.

The third mate called Hazelwood and said he was turning back but what happened next remains a mystery. The third mate and the helm mate at the wheel both said they followed orders. Whether it was miscommunication or poor navigation the Exxon Valdez did not turn back into the shipping lane when it was supposed to.

—The turn was initiated late

So late that the ship ran aground on Bligh Reef.

—What do you think happened?

—I don’t know. Say the same: I wasn’t there.

Vocabulario

Misdemeanor: A misdemeanor is any "lesser" criminal act. Misdemeanors are generally punished less severely than felonies.

Outbound: Outbound refers to a direction of trains, other transport, or roads that travel away from the city center.

Mishap: An accident.

Para saber

A traffic separation scheme or TSS is a maritime traffic-management route-system. The traffic-lanes indicate the general direction of the ships in that zone.

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Esto es parte del archivo: El desastre del Exxon Valdez