Back in 90s it was always happening and you would see oil spilage at sea for miles on the news.
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Because nowadays they are build much saver. For example, they have multiple hulls to prevent leaks after the first is punctured
In 1992 a requirement for oil tankers to have double hulls was passed.
The single hull ones had to be phased out by 2005.
[Construction Requirements for Oil Tankers – Double Hulls](https://www.imo.org/en/OurWork/Environment/Pages/constructionrequirements.aspx#:)
OPA 90 passed. Since then we have continued to update and increase our requirements to prevent oil spills. The cost of cleanup was also to much for oil transporters to not improve.
There were only 4 in the 90’s. 2 in 1991, 1 in 1992, and 1 in 1996. Honorable mention for Exxon Valdez in 1989. But the most recent was 2018 and before that 2007. So the basic answer is you don’t hear about them because they happen far far less frequently. Better ships, better navigational aids like gps etc make them happen less often.
It wasn’t always happening, it happened a few times. They passed legislation that required double-hull construction.
They now build them to rigorous standards. One such standard is that the front won’t fall off.
A cargo ship hit one of the bridge towers here maybe 15 years ago and leaked 200 000L of oil into the water. It was pretty big news at least locally. I think the pilot was was imprisoned for a year because of that incident.
Observation bias mostly. Oil spills are boring and take too long so news stations don’t cover it for long unless it has strong political interest. People don’t care that they’re terrible ecological disasters that devistate wildlife and take a lot of money and several months to clean up. They care about the sad pictures of birds getting caught in oil that they repost on Instagram with the caption “so sad 🙁 🙁 :(” and that’s it.
In reality they happen all the time. From recent events like the South Califonian underwater pipeline leak in 2021 to the BP Deepwater Horizon that began in 2010, we just can’t seem to keep that black stuff contained.
Serious question: would/does Kramerica Industries’ rubber bladder system be feasible? Would further testing have proved fruitful?
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