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Watching a re-run of 'Waterworld' the other night I couldn't help but give another wry smile as the ancient crumbling supertanker that contained all the bad guys (a gang led by Dennis Hopper) finally took a dive to Davy Jones and we got a quick glimpse of her name as she slid out of sight: Exxon Valdez.
Ok it was a good joke, but since a half or more of my sea time was done on tankers of one kind or another I've always thought those particular ships get a bad press in media, movies and TV. After all, the entire modern world we know relies mightily on tankers, whether you like it or not.
What are the most famous tankers ?
Well apart from the one in this movie, the list probably includes the Torrey Canyon and the Amoco Cadiz. That is, tankers that got into catastrophic trouble. And that is something of a mis-representation given the thousands of tankers that ply the oceans and support the life we all take for granted.
Don't get me wrong, these were diabolical disasters, with consequences that even now we might not be aware of, but tankers have been the lifeblood of our world for quite some time now, and we shouldn't forget that.
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"I say we take off, nuke the site from orbit. It's the only way to be sure."
Corporal Hicks
(Actually Ripley said it first.)
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