The twenty eight year old bulk carrier Oriental Nicety was recently sold for scrap for $16 million.  The ship was originally a tanker and has four owners and as many names. She is best known as the Exxon Valdez, the single hull tanker that ran aground on Bligh Reef in Prince William Sound on March 24, 1989, spilling more than 36,000 long tons of crude oil. It was the worst domestic maritime oil spill prior to the BP Deepwater Horizon rig disaster of 2010 which spilled over 560,000 tons of oil.

Exxon Valdez is sold for scrap

Overall, this should be a record year for ship scrapping. London-based shipbroker, Clarkson, estimates that scrapping will increase to 49.1 million deadweight tonnes, surpassing the current all-time high of 41.2 million tonnes reached last year.

More ships to be scrapped this year

Thanks to Phil Leon for contributing to this post.