ee = ee

Li Sai,

page 2, April 13, 1977 - North Shore News

ATM TITATTATATAAANMNKNN MONRO

[A re-run of an earlier column on-a subject whose
importance grows rather than diminishes].

The recent rash of oil-tanker incidents on the
East Coast is a dramatic example of what’s.in store
for us on the West Coast. And it’s coming to us
soon. It’s only a matter of time until one of the
Very Large Crude Carriers (VLCC’s) or Ultra
Large Crude Carriers (ULCC’s), as they are known

in the shipping trade, encounters some type of .

difficulty off our fragile coastline.

Most people siruply do not understand the

tanker situation. They have difficulty compre-
hending the size of the spills 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

wae aawe

the top of the superstructure.
Oil tankers come in all sizes,
from the small ones that

“service the B.C. coast to the

ULCC’s of over 400,000 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
As Aristotle Onassis and

Stavros Niarchos and the

‘other 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

safets. requiremcnts and
manning clauses
scales, attract ship owners
from all over the world. Most
ofthe tankers involved in
disasters have been of Lib-
erian registry. :

Remember the Arrow?
This Liberian-registry tanker
grounded in Chedabucto Bay
in. Nova Scotia in. 1970. It

-broke in two and_ spilled

thousands of tons of oil into

’ the water, creating a deadly

environment for many thou-
sands of sea birds and other
forms of marine life. It cost
us a 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 navigation 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 a2 perman-
ent 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.’’

VERIFIED CIRCULATION 46,000
1139 Lonsdale Avenue, North Vancouver, B.C. V7M 2H4

OFFICE/NEWS: (604) 980-0511
CLASSIFIED: 980-3464 CIRCULATION: 986-1337

Publisher Peter Speck

Assoclate Publisher Bob Graham/Managing Editor

Noel Wright/News Guillermo Lam/Photos Ells-
worth Dickson/Production Marna Leiren/Advertis-
ing Kristi Vidler/Classified Berni Hilliard/Circula-
tion Yvonne Chapman/Administration Barbara
Haywood/Accounts Sylvia Sorensen.

North Shore News, founded in 1969 as an

independent
qualified

community
under Schedule 111,

newspaper and
Part 111,

Paragraph t11 of the Excise Tax Act, is
published cach Wednesday by the North
Shore Free Press Ltd. and distributed to every
door on the North Shore.

Second Class Mall Registration Number 3885.

ENTIRE CONTENTS COPYRIGHT © 1977 NORTH
SHORE FREE PRESS LTD. All rights reserved.

: jeuy wil oc damaged, Wit 4

and pay

‘Jacques Cousteau echoed,

Part of the oil comes from

™

éase

: by Peter Speck —

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 breake
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 minute) both’ ship and

they aves Ln Ae a) a
good chance of spill, explos-
ion or fire.

- Tankers steam constantly
over the oceans of the world.
Turnaround time in ports is a

day: or two at most, and as a__

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 in. un-
familiar waters and entering

unfamiliar ports, and both >
crew and master are often |

fatigued and careless...
Thor Heyerdahl wrote, and

that the oceans of the world
are already polluted with oil.
Tarry chunks are being found
in the middle of the Pacific,
and slicks are commonplace.

accidental spills, but some

are due to carelessness, and

some are deliberate.

~

DELIBERATE SPILLS

Carelessness occurs when
valves are left open and
machinery leaks. Deliberate
spills occur when the oily
residue from tank washings
is pumped overboard, and
tanker captains have been

known to dump thousands of.

tons of oil directly into the
sea when caught with an
overloaded ship in severe
seas and heavy weather, in
order to lighten their ships.

Tankers are dangerous,
whether full or empty. The
explosive nature of empty
tankers was demonstrated by
the explosion in Los Angeles,
in which several people were
killed and much damage
done.
exploded like a small nuclear
device.

Oil is poisonous. Oil-fouled
beaches take years, 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 waterproofing,
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,

The, empty tanker.

Visit our exclusive showroom which features 4 different shower
enclosures and a bathtub enclosure tiled to the ceiling. We have
over 700 DIFFERENT PATTERNS of decorative wall and floor
tile. We stock all tools and accessories for the do-it-yourselfer,

or you may have your tile installed by our bonded professionals.
Simply drop in to our showroom, select the tile of your choice ©

and we'll give you a FREE ESTIMATE and. IN-HOME
CONSULTATION.

1 1x1’? mosaic

1 1%x1%" mosaic 2x2" glazed L103 |
: 1¥%2x3’’ mosaic mosaic 1.19 :
A: 4 3/8x4 3/8" _
y wall tile 39° 3x3"' mosaié 1.49
7 | . . _ sq.ft.
: 6x6’’ decorative
1x2’’ mosaic re a wall tile 99°
sq.ft. sq.ft.
a 2x2"’ -mosaic 4x8"’ glazed :
: unglazed QOC : i sl oor tile. 1.59
; sq.ft. a q.ft. ff

_ Any order of over 100 sq. feet (including spring specials)
10% off 7 |

| &°X10” Frost proof (glazed) Gail Brick Plate |
; Tavern Brown | :
a reg. 3.44. sq. ft. |

super sale 2.29 sq. ft. a
Store Hours

ROSEN i ane |
TILE & CERAMICS cco |

North Van.

980-2218

Fashion Centre

+ pen Hi