A2-Sunday News, January 27, 1980 aa. | speckulations | by Peter Speck With the knowledge that the Americans are going to be using the WestCoast for even more oil tankers in the future, we are going to be forced into accepting the fact that oil spills are going to occur with greater frequency than ever before. It's the law of averages. It’s only a matter of time until one of the Very Large Crude Carriers (VLCC) or Ultra Large Crude Carriers (ULCC), as they are known in the shipping trade, en- counter some type of dif- ficulty off our fragiie coastline. Most people simply do not understan the tanker Situation. They have dif- ficulty comprehending the size of the spilis involved, and that is understandable. The size of the VLCC’s and ULCC’s is difficult enough to comprehend. ; A 200,000 tonner—a tanker with a capacity of two hundred thousand tons of crude oil—is small potatoes, a mere VLCC. The one that I have the measurements for is over 1,000 feet long—a fifth of a mile — is 157 feet wide, and riding empty it’s 96 feet from the rail to the water. That’s almost ten stories ... and that’s to the deck, not the top of the super- structure. Oil tankers come in all sizes, from the small ones that service the B.C. coast to the ULCC’s of over 400,00 tons, twice as large as our example. There are over 3,400 tankers in service on the oceans of the world. Almost 400 are as big as our example or bigger, with 26 over 400,000 tons. STEEL EGGS NAs the oil shipping magnates have discovered, it is much more profitable to ship oil in larger tankers. Crew costs remain about the same as for a smaller vessel, | fuel costs increase only marginally and the extra cost of building the behemoth tankers is soon amortized. Some tankers pay for themselves in a year...not surprising when you under- stand that a very profitable voyage can net a profit of $4 million. Tankers are large, fragile steel eggs. They have a short life expectancy, as the sulphur dioxide content of the oil quickly corrodes the thin steel of their hulls. Most tankers are registered under ‘flags of convenience, which, because of their lax safety requirements == and manning clauses and pay scales, attract ship owners from all over the world. Remember the Arrow? This Libernan-registry tanker grounded in Chedabucto Bay in Nova Scotia in 1970 [t broke in two and = spilled thousands of tons of oil into the walter, creating a deadly environment for many thousands of sca birds and other forms of marine life. It cost us ae lot, both ecologically and financially, and it was a small tanker Very small, by today's standards. Owned by Onassis, it had been func- tioning with almost none of its mavigaton equipment serviceable. The radar had ceased to function an hour before the ship struck, the echo sounder had not worked for two months, and the gyrocompass had a permanent error of three degrees. The officer on watch had no license, and the commission of enquiry said none of the crew had any navigational skill except the master, “and there are even doubts about his ability.” SLOW TO STOP The VLCC's and ULCC’s are so large that they are difficult to handle. Equipped with single screws, in most cases, for reasons of econ- omy, they are helpless in the face of a machinery break- down—and they have break- downs with distressing fre- quency. A_ 250,000 ton tanker has a deadweight (the weight of the oil plus the weight of the ship) of 350 to 400,000 tons. It takes miles to stop one, and when docking if the impact speed is merely one-quarter of a knot (25 feet per munute) -both ship and jeity will be damaged, with a_ good chance of spill, explosion or fire. Tankers steam constantly over the oceans of the world. Turnaround time in ports is a day or two at most, and asa result the crews serve six months or more without leave. They fill up at oil _ fields and go wherever their owners can get the best price for the oil—often changing destinations two or = three times during the voyage. The masters are sailing tn un- familiar ports, and both crew and master are often fatigued and careless. Thor Heyerdahl wrote, and Jacques Cousteau echoed, that the oceans of the world are already polluted with oi. Tarry chunks are being found in the middle of the Pacific, and slicks are commonplace Part of the oil comes from accidental spills, bul some are due to carelessness, and some are detliberate DELIBERATE SPILLS Oil ots) poisonous Oil fouled beaches take years. CHIEFTAIN RENTALS Cars trom $14.00 aday 200 km FREE Trareks.trom $4 Ao a day 987-7111 1606 Weleb 8t5 MeVan maybe centuries, to recover. Ninety five per cent or more of all seabirds affected by oil spills die; and the mortality rate of those taken to treatment centres is over 90 per cent. There's no way to take the oil off a bird without removing its natural water- proofing, and for marine birds this, of course, is fatal. It’s only a matter of time before one of the tankers spills its black death here, and the results are too dreadful to comprehend. I hope we can come to grips with that problem before it occurs. ELECTION UP-DATE The big issue in this elec- tion is credibility. In other words, the question is not just what the parties and can- didates are saying, but whether you can trust them to keep their word, or whether they even know what they are talking about Mr Clark and the Con- servatives have very little credibility left. In the last election, they promised you a $2 billion tax cut, and you got a $3 billion tax increase. They promised you homeowner tax and mor- tgage breaks that would have been worth in excess of $3000 per year to many homeowners They delivered much less than half of that They promised lower interest rates, and interest rates skyrocketed Most of all, they promised sound, effective government, and they had their chance and blew it Take this com- parson Margaret Thatcher was elected Prime Minister of Bri- tain just one month before Joe Clark was elected Prime Minister of Canada In the months that followed, she solved the Rhodesian crisis. while Joe Clark embarassed Canada over the Jerusalem embassy question Mrs” Thatcher called Parta ment in under a month to get at her country’s problems Mr Clark failed to call Parha- ment for five months the longest period in Canadian history, And then he says he wasnt given a chance! He had a chance to make a deal with the boat people and then backed oft on it He had time to seniqusly undermine Petro Canada He had time to cause the worst teeling between eastern and western) provinces In our history He had time to bring In a budget so bad that all three opposition parties retused to support him And he 1s still making pro mises We cant aftord Mr Clark or his group We need a return to strong and reltable government in Canada | will do my part in anew Liberal government if you will elect me on February 18 Thank AGORDON GIBSON Liberal North Vancouver ; ae. - Burnaby 985-8281 201-8447 Authonzsed by the Officiat Agont to: Gordon Gibaon AUTHORIZED BY OFFICIAL AGENT FOR ANDY KRAWCZyYk images for a canadian heritage 779 BURRARD STREET / VANCOUVER. BC CANADA V6Z 1X6 / TEL 685-7046 Dear Reader: We at “Images” are pleased to to you during our “annual inventory adjustment” - Starting Monday, January 28th, 9 A.M. vings Savings on every item in our gallery, 25% off all Eskimo Art, Sculpture, Jewelry, Cards, Calendars and Prints, (Framed and Unframed), our museum quality Eskimo Baskets and Dolls, Jade, Ivory and Turquoise by David Wong, all Indian Art, Prints and Jewelry. 25% savings on all picture framing, as well. Every item in our gallery is registred as to originality and authenticity and many items are museum quality. I would like to extend this invitation to you to drop in during our annual inventory adjustment and see for yourself the very substantial savings on all our stock. Yours sincerely, Sidney Oreck 4 P.S. Remember, a gift from “Images” is always in good taste. ORGINAL ESR ME SCULPTURE PRINTS ANG TRAFIS «© aAT- Fa Ts ee MO SEUM CA. "TY ‘OT GRE FRAMONG © JAOE ANT 1 VORY CAAVINGS © NU AN ART ANT LUNTEMBPORBHY ONO-AN POTTCAY ANDREW KRAWCZYK THE NDP is committed to- Full Employment Lower Interest Rates A Fair Deal for Women Increased Old Age Pension ~ COME& % HELP US AT 1558 LONSDALE NORTH VAN PHONE 984-9177