ship

PRINCE WILLIAM SOUND, UNITED STATES : Staining the vista of the Chugach Mountains, the Exxon Valdez lies atop Bligh Reef two days after the grounding. Forty-two million gallons of remaining oil that would have vastly multiplied the disaster if the ship had sunk were pumped onto smaller vessels. Southbound from the trans-Alaska pipeline terminal at Valdez, the ship met disaster after 28 miles, outside normal shipping lanes, with the captain absent from the bridge. (Photo by Natalie B. Fobes/National Geographic/Getty Images)