Sailors Take Warning...
The sky was pink here in Bethel this AM, perhaps because of the volcano, perhaps in anniversary of the worst shipwreck in Alaska history.
It was dark when the Exxon Valdez set sail that fateful evening from the oil dock in the town of it's namesake. Captain Joseph Hazelwood, an experienced and respected mariner couldn't have dream t in his worst nightmares what was to transpire over the next hours, days and decades.
I wrote then and I'll write again that although he holds responsibility as Master of the ship for what happened, he was completely justified in leaving the deck and the conn to the mate who, for whatever reason neglected to keep the supertanker on course.
But the taciturn voice of Captain Hazelwood will always stick in my mind, as I heard it on the radio that early morning 20 years ago, just waking up, in Hooper Bay...
"We've fetched up hard on Bligh Reef...and we're leaking some oil."
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