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Hazelwood was one of a select group of around 15 classmates chosen to work for Esso, as Exxon was then called. As a third mate, he earned $24,000, extraordinary pay for a young man starting out in 1968. Hazelwood, who by then preferred to be called Joe, reported for duty on the Esso Florence in Wilmington, N.C. His seafaring instincts made an instant impression. "Joe had what we old-timers refer to as a seaman's eye," recalls Steve Brelsford, a retired Exxon captain and Hazelwood's first boss. "He had that sixth sense about seafaring that enables you to smell a storm on the horizon or watch the barometer and figure how to outmaneuver it." Because of such gifts, Hazelwood rose swiftly through the ranks. Only ten years after graduating, he became a captain, in charge of the Exxon Philadelphia, a California-to-Alaska oil tanker. At 32 he was the youngest skipper in Exxon's fleet.
But, though fellow seamen insist it did not seem to impair his performance, Hazelwood began to drink heavily on board, in violation of company rules. Moreover, he was not discreet about his growing problem, and invited fellow crew members to join him. "It was almost like Joe was trying to get caught," says a fellow seaman who remains a close friend. "He'd close his door, but everyone knew what went on. He always said that everything was fine, but then why was he drinking? The guy was begging for help, but he kept it all inside."
Even as Hazelwood's reputation as a boozer grew, so did his image as the best captain in Exxon's fleet. Exxon management, however, was increasingly unhappy with the talented young skipper, less for his drinking than because of his headstrong, independent manner. Like the old-time captains he modeled himself after, Hazelwood shunned paperwork, company politics and extensive contacts with the M.B.A. executives who were increasingly chipping away at the traditional authority of shipmasters. "Joe didn't have Exxon tattooed under his eyelids," says a high-ranking Exxon engineer. "He'd make his own judgments and act accordingly. That's why those at sea respected him and those on land thought he wasn't a company man."
Exxon refuses to discuss Hazelwood, including stories about his ship- handling feats. In 1985, for instance, Hazelwood was captain of the Exxon Chester, an asphalt carrier, as it headed from New York to South Carolina. Offshore of Atlantic City the ship ran into a freak storm. High winds snapped the ship's mast, and it toppled, along with the ship's radar and electronics gear. With 30-ft. waves and 50-knot winds overpowering the vessel, several sailors grabbed life jackets and prepared to abandon ship. But Hazelwood calmed the crew and rigged a makeshift antenna. After radioing shore, he guided the Chester out of the storm. Then, with the safety of his crew and cargo in mind, Hazelwood followed the storm back to New York -- and, to his surprise, ran into a brief storm of criticism from dollar-conscious superiors at Exxon who had wanted Hazelwood to continue the journey southward.