NATION IN BRIEF : ALASKA : Expert Lays Spill to Valdez Helmsman
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From Times Staff and Wire Reports
The Exxon Valdez ran aground on a jagged reef and spilled its cargo of oil because the helmsman failed to turn the ship as far as ordered, an expert testified on behalf of the tanker’s ex-skipper, Joseph Hazelwood, at Hazelwood’s trial in Anchorage. Peter Shizume, who devised a computer program used to simulate ship accidents, said the tanker would have missed Bligh Reef in Prince William Sound by about 2 miles if the rudder had been turned as ordered.
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