Exxon Valdez is Now An Ore Carrier Vessel Renamed Dong Fang Ocean

In light of the recent explosion, collapse and oil emission of the destroyed Deepwater Horizon complex, I remember back to the Exxon Valdez in Prince William Sound, Alaska in 1989. While there is no doubt to the devastation brought by the Exxon Valdez, it is interesting that the Exxon Valdez is not even in the Top 10 of worst oil spills ever. I would have expected the Exxon Valdez to have least been in the Top 5.

As I thought about the Exxon Valdez, I wondered whatever happened to the tragic ship? Was the ship rusting in some yard of hulks? Was it still delivering oil for Exxon or other oil countries?

Nope, the Exxon Valdez has been renamed a few times, but it is now an ore carrying ship called the Dong Fang Ocean. The above picture is the Dong Fang Ocean vessel (a/k/a the Exxon Valdez).

From The Maritime:

In 2002 it the ship was put in a lay-up status somewhere along a forgotten section of coast near East Asia. The ship was later re-flagged in the Marshall Islands and re-named the Mediterranean. The ship was eventually sold in January of 2008 to Hong Kong Bloom Shipping Ltd. and was re-named the Dong Fang Ocean with the intention to use the ship as an Ore Carrier.