Re: W. on the Environment

[Dan Minette]

>I don't see how not shipping out of Alaska
> >is going to solve problems.  From what I read in the National Geographic
> >site, they are actually taking a lot of care to ensure that such an
accident
> >doesn't happen again.  This includes using three tugs to escorts all
ships
> >out past the rocks, with the tugs having enough power to overwhelm a
ship's
> >captain who would ground the ship.
>
>
> How about preventing the ship from being grounded by keeping the captain
> *sober*, which IIRC was a reported as a significant factor in the _Exxon
> Valdez_ accident?
>

Yea, that's an obvious one.  They issure sobrity tests on all captains
before the ships leave port.  But, the point of the tugs is really belt and
suspenders.  Even if the captain gets drunk while leaving port, the tugs
should be powerful enough to overcome any stupid moves made by the ship.

Dan M.