Tankers Full of Trouble: The Perilous Journey of Alaskan Crude

The 2400-mile round trip from Valdez, Alaska, to the oil refinery at Cherry Point, Wash., is one of the world's most dangerous sea passages, featuring high waves, strong winds, bitter temperatures and lots of tanker traffic. Nalder, a Pulitzer prize-winning journalist for the Seattle Times , joined the crew of 24 on the Arco Anchorage to report on conditions aboard an oil tanker. Built in 1973, the Anchorage is 900 feet long and 140 feet wide; its hull sits as deep in the water as the height of a five-story building. On Nalder's trip, the tanker carried 35 million gallons of Alaskan crude oil. This engrossing account of the voyage is interspersed with an intense examination of the tanker industry, in which Nalder describes ship design, crew size, training standards, traffic control systems and the Coast Guard's lackadaisical discipline. That organization, he maintains, has responsibility for too many tasks and too few people to do them. Underscoring the hazards at sea for both the sailors and the environment, this fine study is a valuable companion to J. Wills and K. Wainer's recent Innocent Passage. (Mar.)