Tankers: Fueling American Life
It’s hard to imagine modern life without petroleum. From the gas in our cars to the asphalt on the road, from bicycle helmets to mobile phones to medical equipment, almost everything we use today is in some way made from a barrel of oil. And how does much of that oil reach America? By tanker. Today there are thousands of tankers working safely to transport their cargo. Smaller tankers transport gasoline and other specialized petroleum products while tankers measuring as long as the Empire State building transport crude from far and wide across the globe.
Few people connect the dots between the everyday products they use to the men and women of the maritime industry and the vessels they operate - around the clock and across the world - to ensure safe and timely delivery at minimal cost. Roughly 5,800 gallons of crude oil per second - that is what America requires to live, prosper, and enjoy the amenities essential to everyday life. This is what the people of the tanker industry deliver to our shores largely out of sight and out of mind every day.
Over the past century, shipbuilding procedures and system advancements have improved through incorporating new technologies to enhance the safety and efficiency of petroleum transportation. Today’s tankers signify these advancements in every component of the ship, from antifouling hull coatings to engines that generate fewer emissions than their predecessors, from sophisticated navigation and communication systems to double hull protection. But even the newest ships with the most advanced equipment cannot operate on their own. Ensuring that the latest technology safely and cost-efficiently delivers the energy to port: this is the irreplaceable role of the mariner.
Tankers and the people who run them work hard to provide the energy resources that power American industries and fuel our domestic economy. They provide gas for our cars, heat for our homes, fertilizer for our farms and toys for our children. Often unnoticed by us, tankers and the men and women who operate them are an important and principal link in our American and global supply chain. Touching our lives in many ways every day, they dependably and affordably deliver the products Americans need to keep moving forward.
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