OIL TANKERS

Perhaps the most striking indicator is the price of second-hand tankers, which in 1974 actually exceeded that of new ones on order, but by the end of the decade had collapsed to less than a quarter of the price before the embargo. To own an oil tanker at present is not much more of an an asset than owning Walter Mondale's collected speeches, especially now that both can be shot full of holes.

However, even though the oil tanker's heyday is evidently over, it will no more disappear from the seas than firewood disappeared from the industrialized countries. Technologically, oil tankers may not be much more exciting than firewood, but they provide some excellent examples of the superstitions preached by the would-be economists and the would-be environmentalists.

Yes, as a matter of fact, that is exactly the reason. Undisputedly it is more advanced in technology, but in its maritime policies it is backward. Protectionist policies for ships, crews and cargo are a US tradition that goes back to the early days of the Republic. It has been greatly enhanced in the days of union blackmail and of the politician who appeals to nationalism. But as in so many other cases, the deadliest enemy of American capitalism is the American capitalist who has found a shortcut to beating the competion by a better service: he beats it by the laws and guns of his government.

Just as the Very Reverend Jesse Jackson is keeping black teenagers unemployed by garnering votes over a "fair" minimum wage, so the unions and shipping lobbies (who survive by subsidies) have driven the American seaman to sail under foreign flags: a free market will go where the market is free.

Almost half the operating costs of a tanker are the fuel costs, which explains why they have become jumbo-sized after the price explosion of the seventies. But the next biggest cost is the payroll: more than 20%, and that explains why US seamen cannot often sail under the US flag. For every $100 that humane politicians force US ships to pay their crews, France pays only $82, Britain $50, Italy $38, and Spain $30 (1978 figures). What the humane politicians get is the vote of the dull-witted; what the seamen get is unemployment.

Liberia entered the shipping trade only after World War II. The country was settled by freed American slaves in 1822 and has kept close ties with the US, adopting many of its laws and traditions, of which government overregulation is not one: with the advice of former US secretary of State Edward Stettinius it passed tax benefits for foreign shipowners in 1949, and now has by far the world's greatest tonnage (154 million dwt) and number of vessels (2,700). Since 1971 it has also had tough safety and licencing regulations, with a worldwide network of inspection teams.

From economics to environmentalism. It is the big oil tankers that cause most of the spills, goes the story, pressed home in covert fiction such as the novel Supertanker and covert fiction such as the Greenpeace publications. As always, the cold data tell another story (see chart).