March 24, 1989. It is a date that basically changed how we look at the ocean forever. You’ve likely seen the photos of the oil-slicked otters and the black, sludge-covered beaches of Prince William Sound. But at the center of that storm was one man: Joseph Hazelwood, the captain of Exxon Valdez.
People called him a drunk. They called him a villain. Late-night comedians made him the punchline of every joke for a decade. Honestly, most folks think he spent his life behind bars. But the truth is a lot messier than the headlines made it out to be.
Hazelwood wasn’t even on the bridge when the ship hit Bligh Reef. That’s a detail people often miss. He was in his cabin. He was doing paperwork. Does that make him innocent? Not exactly. But it makes the story of the captain of Exxon Valdez way more complicated than the "drunken sailor" narrative we all grew up with.
The Night Everything Broke
The Exxon Valdez left the terminal at 9:12 p.m. It was carrying 53 million gallons of crude oil. Think about that volume for a second. It’s a staggering amount of potential destruction sitting in a steel hull.
Hazelwood had been drinking earlier that day. He admitted to having a few vodkas in town before boarding. But when the ship set sail, he was at the helm. He navigated the ship through the tricky Valdez Narrows. He did his job. Then, things got weird.
To avoid icebergs, Hazelwood ordered the ship out of the normal shipping lanes. This was a standard move. But once they were clear of the ice, the ship needed to turn back. Hazelwood handed over the bridge to the third mate, Gregory Cousins.
"I'm going to go below and catch up on some paperwork," he basically said.
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Cousins wasn't technically licensed to pilot the ship in those specific waters. That was a big problem. A few minutes later, the massive tanker slammed into Bligh Reef. It didn't just hit it; it "fetched up hard aground," as Hazelwood famously radioed to the Coast Guard.
Was He Actually Drunk?
This is the question that defined the trial. The media had already convicted him.
The prosecution brought in toxicologists who "calculated backward" from a blood test taken ten hours after the crash. They claimed he was well over the limit. But the jury didn't buy it. Why? Because witness after witness—the pilots, the crew—said he didn't seem drunk. No slurring. No staggering.
In 1990, an Alaska jury acquitted Hazelwood of the most serious charges. He was cleared of second-degree criminal mischief. He was cleared of operating a vessel while intoxicated.
He was only convicted of a single misdemeanor: negligent discharge of oil.
His punishment? A $50,000 fine and 1,000 hours of community service. He spent those hours picking up trash on the side of Alaska highways and working in a soup kitchen. It was a far cry from the life of a high-earning sea captain.
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Life After the Spill
Hazelwood never went back to sea as a captain. Who would hire him? Exxon fired him immediately. His license was suspended for a while, and even though he eventually got it back, he was radioactive in the maritime industry.
He spent years working as a maritime consultant and a paralegal for the very law firm that defended him. He lived a quiet, somewhat reclusive life in Huntington, Long Island.
He stayed out of the spotlight. Mostly.
In 2009, he finally apologized. It took twenty years. He spoke to Sharon Bushell for her book The Spill, saying he felt a "heartfelt apology" was due to the people of Alaska. But he also maintained that he was a scapegoat. He felt the "true story" was ignored because it wasn't as "sexy" as the story of a drunk captain.
The Man Behind the Myth
It’s easy to forget that Joseph Hazelwood was once considered one of the best skippers in the Exxon fleet. He was the youngest captain they had at age 32. He had a "seaman's eye."
But he also had a documented struggle with alcohol. Exxon knew it. They had sent him to rehab years before the spill. They let him back on the bridge anyway.
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This is where the blame starts to shift. Was it just one man's mistake, or a corporate failure? The courts eventually decided Exxon was on the hook for billions in punitive damages because they knew their captain was struggling and did nothing.
How He Passed Away
The story of the captain of Exxon Valdez ended quietly in July 2022. Joseph Hazelwood died at the age of 75.
He had been battling cancer and complications from COVID-19. He left behind a wife and a daughter. There was no grand public mourning. Just a few obituaries in the New York Times and local Alaska papers.
Why It Still Matters Today
The Exxon Valdez disaster gave us the Oil Pollution Act of 1990. It’s why we have double-hulled tankers now. It’s why GPS and navigation tracking are so much stricter.
But it also serves as a case study in how we assign blame. We like a villain. We like a face to put on a disaster. For 30 years, that face was Joseph Hazelwood.
If you're looking for the real "lesson" here, it's not just about the dangers of oil. It's about the thin line between a stellar career and a permanent legacy of failure. One bad night, one decision to leave the bridge, and your name is synonymous with disaster forever.
What You Can Do Next
If you want to understand the full scope of the disaster, you should look beyond the captain.
- Research the NTSB Report: The official National Transportation Safety Board findings actually spread the blame across the Coast Guard, Exxon, and the crew.
- Look at Prince William Sound Today: See how the ecosystem has (or hasn't) recovered. Some areas still have oil just beneath the surface if you dig an inch or two into the sand.
- Read "The Spill": If you want to hear Hazelwood’s actual words, Sharon Bushell’s collection of oral histories is the best source.
The captain of Exxon Valdez is gone, but the ripples of that night on Bligh Reef are still being felt in maritime law and environmental policy today. It wasn't just a spill; it was a total breakdown of a system that we all assumed was safe.