Innocent Passage: The Wreck of the Tanker Braer

On January 5, 1993, the U.S.-owned, Liberian-registered oil tanker Braer , without power in a force-10 gale, ran aground on the rocky shore near Fitful Head in the Shetland Islands. The captain was taking a short cut through the Fair Isle Channel to deliver 84,500 tons of oil from Norway to Canada. Wills ( A Place in the Sun ) and Warner, the Shetland Times reporter who covered the story, give a riveting account of the wreck, the rescue (all aboard were winched off by helicopter in the gale force winds) and the impact of the spill on people, land and wildlife. Continuing storms broke up the Braer ; winds kept the pollution at sea, where it was diluted. Wills, who has studied the oil industry's impact on the environment for 20 years, explains in detail how and why the tanker grounded, laying blame on tanker owners, who manned unfit ships with ill-trained crews, the British government and the insurance industry. In this example of superb reporting, the authors offer practical suggestions for safety, using existing technology. Photos. (Dec.)