And you can thank the free market for punishing the guilty parties. In a controlled economy, the North Cape's owner, Eklof Marine, would never have risked cutting its costs so dangerously deep. But moving oil inexpensively is what the barge business is all about.
Barges are the higher-profit alternative to tankers.
The New England coastline is crawling with them. Free to haul 800,000 gallons of heating oil in an single-hull barge. Free to leave port without a working anchor. Free to sail into a winter storm without basic navigation or fire-safety equipment. The consequences of that decision hit the coast of Rhode Island the next day.