Global Supply Chain Nightmare May Be Behind California Oil Spill
‘The more ships you have at anchor, the more risk there is that something could happen,’ one expert says
An unremitting shipping logjam in the waters outside of Los Angeles has already contributed to higher costs, delays and intermittent goods shortages across the U.S. Now, it could be to blame for California’s biggest oil spill in 27 years.
Although the official cause of a pipeline rupture that spilled as many as 3,000 barrels of crude oil into the ocean off Orange County remains unconfirmed, preliminary reports indicate an anchor may have hooked the pipeline, tearing the metal open. About 4,000 feet of the pipeline had been moved 105 feet from its original position and divers found a 13-inch split in the line that’s likely the source of the release, the Coast Guard said.