SFist Photo: Exxon Valdez Doppelgänger Visits SF Bay
Down at the docks, infamous container ship Cosco Busan is San Francisco's latest tourist attraction. The oil tanker in the background on the left is S/R Long Beach, an almost identical twin of Exxon Valdez.
So, here's an update on the oil spill. The gash in the Cosco Busan was being thoroughly inspected down near Third Street the last we saw.
Why is it that the single-hulled 980-something-foot-long Exxon Valdez is effectively banned by the government from hauling petroleum from southern Alaska to the west coast, while the very similar single-hulled, 980-something-foot-long S/R Long Beach is still at work?
And what do Cosco and Hanjin and the others have to say? And of all the people with a role to play in this medium-sized tragedy, who's winning the straight shooter award (so far)? Find out after the jump.
Well the Oil Pollution Act of 1990 states that ships that dump more than a million gallons of petroleum into U.S. waters are no longer welcome to use Prince William Sound. The 'Deez has lots of bad juju associated with it so you're not likely to ever see it again. It was built in America as an Alaska Class Tanker so not being able to go The Last Frontier was a certainly a blow to its owners. The SeaRiver Long Beach (aka Exxon Long Beach) has had its own share of bad luck but it hasn't been involved in a major spill, so it keeps chugging along just as the Exxon Valdez did.
Double hulling, or something similar, of tankers should be coming soon, so the S/R Long Beach might not spend too many more years coming back and forth to San Francisco. Even the controversial Chevron Condoleeza Rice was made double-hulled. Seems to be the trend.
A lonely stranded Busan crewmember on patrol near the bow.
It's not too early for a lawsuit, is it? Let's try to make sense of things by hearing from some of the players involved with the Busan.
"COSCO Group confirms that M.V. "COSCO Busan" is not owned, managed, operated, or chartered by COSCO Group or any of its companies."
"As Synergy Maritime fully operates the ship as well as manages the entire crew including the captain, Hanjin Shipping has no legal responsibility in this accident."
"Regal Stone's first and most important concern is the response. We are not discussing the investigation or any legal matters out of respect for the process."
Well, O.K. then.
A worker inspects the large gash on the port side of the Busan
And who is it that seems to have his or her facts straight during this entire affair so far? That would appear to be The Bone. That's United States Coast Guard Eleventh District Commander Admiral Craig Bone. Of course, people will disagree on matters of opinion, but facts are facts and he seems to have a good handle on them. He has his fans anyway.