Joseph Hazelwood, captain of the Exxon Valdez. Alt link.
The Exxon Valdez (pronounced val-DEEZ) ran aground on Alaska’s Bligh Reef a few minutes after midnight on March 24, 1989. “Evidently we’re leaking some oil and we’re going to be here for quite a while,” Captain Hazelwood radioed the Coast Guard in what turned out to be a vast understatement.
Captain Hazelwood had not been on the bridge when the accident occurred. The National Transportation Safety Board found that the ship’s third mate had failed to properly maneuver the vessel because of fatigue and excessive workload, and that Captain Hazelwood had failed to provide a proper navigation watch because he was impaired by alcohol. The Exxon Shipping Company and its Exxon Corporation subsidiary were found to have failed to provide a fit master and a rested and sufficient crew.
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The Exxon Valdez spill blackened 1,500 miles of the Gulf of Alaska coastline, home to rich fishing grounds and wildlife. It contributed to the passage by Congress of the Oil Pollution Act of 1990, which streamlined and strengthened the United States Environmental Protection Agency’s ability to prevent and respond to catastrophic oil spills.
The spill killed 250,000 seabirds, 2,800 sea otters, 300 harbor seals, 250 bald eagles and as many as 22 killer whales, according to the Exxon Valdez Oil Spill Trustee Council, a joint federal-state monitoring agency.
A jury acquitted Captain Hazelwood of a felony charge of operating a vessel while intoxicated but convicted him on a misdemeanor charge of negligently discharging oil, resulting in a $50,000 fine and 1,000 hours of community service. The Coast Guard suspended his license for some nine months. He never returned to the seas.
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In June 1999, as the legal case dragged on, Mr. Hazelwood was taking time off from his job at a New York law firm and heading to Alaska to begin his community service, picking up trash in the city of Anchorage’s parks, when he told The New York Times in an interview, “As master of the vessel, I accept responsibility for the vessel and the actions of my subordinates.” He added: “I’ve never tried to avoid that. I’m not some remorseless oaf.”
“But,” he continued, “the crime I was convicted of is a B misdemeanor. There’s no lower crime in the State of Alaska. The judge had to come up with a sentence. I can understand it. I don’t have to agree with it.”
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In an interview for the book “The Spill: Personal Stories From the Exxon Valdez Disaster,” by Sharon Bushell and Stan Jones (2009), Mr. Hazelwood offered a “heartfelt apology” to the people of Alaska while suggesting that his notoriety was not deserved.
As he put it, “The true story is out there for anybody who wants to look at the facts, but that’s not the sexy story and that’s not the easy story.”
After reading the article and, hopefully, getting a good sense of the man, I really feel for the guy and the lot he drew. He was no knight in shining armor but he was an honest hard-working guy who had flaws like anyone, accepted responsibility for the disaster, did what was asked of him, and was never let live it down. Rest in peace.