Sold for scrap: Infamous Exxon Valdez tanker, responsible for disastrous oil spill, sold and is likely to be destroyed

By DAILY MAIL REPORTER

Published: | Updated:

The notorious Exxon Valdez tanker, responsible for one of the worst oil spills in U.S. history, has been bought by an Indian company most likely to be scrapped for its steel and spare parts.

Best Oasis would not reveal the price or purpose of its purchase, but it buys old ships solely to dismantle them, reuse salvageable material and discard the rest.

On March 24, 1989, the Exxon Valdez tanker, en route from Alaska to Los Angeles ran aground in Prince William Sound, Alaska. The vessel was traveling outside normal shipping lanes in an attempt to avoid ice.

Sold for scrap: The Exxon Valdez tanker, responsible for one of the worst oil spills in U.S history, has been brought by an Indian company

Sold for scrap: The Exxon Valdez tanker, responsible for one of the worst oil spills in U.S history, has been brought by an Indian company

Infamous: The tanker spilled 270,000 barrels of crude oil into Alaska's Prince William Sound in 1989

Infamous: The tanker spilled 270,000 barrels of crude oil into Alaska's Prince William Sound in 1989

Within six hours of the grounding, the ship spewed 10.9 million gallons of crude oil, coating the shoreline with petroleum sludge and killing nearly 40,000 birds.

The spill caused incalculable environmental damage and demolished the fishing industry in the area.

EXXON VALDEZ OIL SPILL

The oil tanker hit rocks travelling from Alaska to L.A on March 24 1989.

Within six hours the Exxon Valdez spilled approximately 10.9 million gallons of crude oil.

270,000 barrels of crude oil were leaked into  Prince William Sound, Alaska.

The oil would eventually impact over 1,100 miles of coastline in Alaska.

40,000 birds were killed in the disaster.

Exxon were fined $150million and agreed to pay $900 in a civil settlement.

Texas-based Exxon Mobil Corp., spent $900 million in restitution in a 1991 settlement and is battling more litigation from the spill. 

Until the 2010 BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico the Exxon Valdez spill was the largest ever spill in U.S waters.

The tanker moved on, with five name changes since the spill and ownership changing repeatedly, apparently to keep the ship in use while distancing it from the disaster.

Best Oasis official Gaurav Mehta said his company bought the ship recently. It's now a converted ore carrier known as the Oriental Nicety, but he did not disclose its current location and status.

'I can confirm that Best Oasis has bought the tanker, but can give no details till we take delivery of it,' Mehta said.

The ship is 26 years old, not significantly aged for tankers, but it was considerably damaged in its lifetime. It was split open by rocks in the Alaska spill and was damaged in a collision in the South China Sea in 2010.

Hong Kong-based Best Oasis is a wholly owned subsidiary of Priya Blue Industries in the western state of Gujarat.

India has one of the world's largest industries for breaking down old ships and oil tankers in the town of Alang, along the Gulf of Cambay in Gujarat.

Catastrophic:The spill of 10.9 million gallons of oil was one of the worst environmental disasters in U. S. history

Catastrophic:The spill of 10.9 million gallons of oil was one of the worst environmental disasters in U. S. history

Damage: The spill killed nearly 40,000 birds, killed sea otters and destroyed hundreds of miles of coastline

Damage: The spill killed nearly 40,000 birds, killed sea otters and destroyed hundreds of miles of coastline




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