Tanker industry progressing in cleaning up operations
The international tanker industry has made significant strides in improving the safety and environmental awareness of its operations in recent years. With a string of mishaps following the Exxon Valdez spill, public scrutiny focused on the tanker industry and found it lacking. The U.S. government reacted strongly with the Oil Pollution Act of 1990. OPA 90 set narrow requirements for tanker construction, forced the creation of a national spill response program, and made tanker operators solely liable for spill damage. The Aegean Sea and Braer accidents around the end of last year forced the pace of European legislation. Since then global initiatives have been announced to improve design and maintenance of tankers and take steps toward eliminating substandard ships and operators. The paper discusses priorities, tanker design, the tanker fleet, OPA status, spill response, the Tampa Bay spill, spill liability, European spills, EC legislation, and the Department of Transportation inquiry.
- OSTI ID:
- 6036926
- Journal Information:
- Oil and Gas Journal; (United States), Vol. 91:42; ISSN 0030-1388
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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Related Subjects
OIL SPILLS
MITIGATION
TANKER SHIPS
DESIGN
COMMON MARKET
EMERGENCY PLANS
LEGISLATION
LIABILITIES
PETROLEUM INDUSTRY
POLLUTION REGULATIONS
EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES
INDUSTRY
INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS
REGULATIONS
SHIPS
020900* - Petroleum- Environmental Aspects
022000 - Petroleum- Transport
Handling
& Storage