“We’ve fetched up hard aground, north of Goose Island, off Bligh Reef and evidently leaking some oil and we’re gonna be here for a while.” Exxon Valdez has indeed been here a while.  One can only wonder if CAPT Hazelwood realized the impact his ship would have on the maritime industry when he made that [...]

Canada is moving to assert even more control of its Northern most waters.  The Canadian Prime Minister announced that Canada would be requiring mandatory reporting of any vessels traveling through Canadian portions of the Northwest Passage.  The reporting was previously voluntary and monitored by the Canadian Coast Guard’s NORDREG division. Finding out exactly how and [...]

The American Maritime Officers (AMO) union is now offering a possible solution to what was previously a catch 22 for many officers trying to get their PIC/DL endorsement to work aboard tank vessels.  The union has set up a somewhat formal observers program, to give officers 90 days to work aboard a tanker, while receiving a [...]

The Supreme Court granted a generous break for ExxonMobile  by slashing the punitive damages against the company stemming from the Exxon Valdez spill from $2.5 billion to a $500 million.  More from the NY Times.