The Nathan E. Stewart/DBL 54 is a 10,000 Deadweight ton capacity "articulated tug/barge" (ATB) petroleum tanker, and is owned by the Texas-based Kirby Corporation, which is one of the largest petroleum product ATB operators in the USA. (10,000 tons is 1/4 the spill volume released by the Exxon Valdez) It travels back and forth up the 'protected waters' of the British Columbia Inside Passage by “special waiver" which exempts it from Transport Canada shipping regulations. These guide the movement of all other tankers operating in BC waters. As a result, it operates here with no Canadian pilots on board, it does not require escort tugs while maneuvering in Port Metro Vancouver, and most egregiously, it is allowed to travel north through Seymour Narrows and into the "voluntary tanker exclusion zone" that is the B.C. Inside Passage. As such, this unflagged foreign vessel blatantly flouts the concerns of the people of Canada, offers nothing but imminent disaster, and operates here secretively without any social license whatsoever.
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