An unfortunate meeting of behemoths on a foggy morning
Once they exceed a pachydermous 250,000 tonsabout four times the size of the Queen Elizabeth 2, for example oceangoing oil carriers are classified as supertankers. Like elephants, they can also be superterrors. Purists dislike their wallowing bulk. Mariners fret about a 1,200-ft. ship that may require half a harbor to slow down, needs miles of room for a minor change in course and in extremis could wreak disaster. Sure enough, disaster occurred last week in waters off South Africa's Cape St. Francis.
Crashing...
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