About 0009, on March 24, 1989, the U.S. tankship EXXON VALDEZ, loaded with about 1,263,000 barrels of crude oil, grounded on Bligh Reef in Prince William Sound, near Valdez, Alaska. At the time of the grounding, the vessel was under the navigational control of the third mate. There were no injuries, but about 258,000 barrels of cargo were spilled when eight cargo tanks ruptured, resulting in catastrophic damage to the environment. In 1989, the Exxon Valdez oil spill was the biggest environmental disaster in history. Damage to the vessel was estimated at $25 million, and the cost of the cleanup of the spilled oil during 1989 was about $1.85 billion. Although the third mate testified that he ordered the rudder increased from right 10° to right 20° rudder about 1 1/2 minutes after ordering the right 10° and then ordered the rudder increased to hard right about 2 minutes later, this sequence of rudder orders could not be substantiated using the course recorder trace.
