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It's 1985, four years before the grounding of the Exxon Valdeus and Prince William Sound.

Captain Joseph Hazelwood stands in the wheelhouse of the Exxon Tanker Chester.

His ship is carrying 27,000 tons of pass-fall from New York to South Carolina, an easy one, one he's made many times before.

But today, as he looks toward the southern horizon, he sees dark skies ahead, the storm moving in, fast, and a big one.

Within minutes, 30-foot waves sweep across the deck, a screaming sheer of wind rips the antenna off the tanker's wheelhouse,

killing the radar and the ship's radio in one fell swoop. Then the entire ship goes dark, all electrical systems dead.

Hazelwoods cut off from the outside world, standing at the helm of a 45,000 ton steel coffin, tossing and heaving in the storm.

Crew members panic, pull on lifefests and prepare to jump overboard.

The first mate bursts into the wheelhouse, all systems are down, Captain, we need to get everybody off this ship now, abandoned ship.

We're not going anywhere.

Captain Hazelwood knows that jumping into these waters is suicide, their only chance of survival is to save the ship.

Hazelwoods been out on the sea since he was a kid, he's always had a knack for knowing what to do in tough situations on the water.

As a teen, he once got caught in a storm just like this one, on board a 65-foot schooner on Long Island Sound.

While the other kids on deck started vomiting and crying, Hazelwood calmly climbed the ship's 50-foot tall mast to haul in the Arant Man's Sail alone.

In Gail Force Winds.

Hazelwoods been here before, so now, on board the Exxon Tanker Chester, with the lives of his crew on the line, Hazelwoods stays calm again.

He rakes up a makeshift radio antenna, then guides his wounded tanker through the storm back to New York for repairs.

It's a feat that will make him a legend among the men and women who crew Exxon ships, and it will make his bosses at Exxon furious.

As soon as he reaches Port, he's called into the corporate office where an executive immediately lays into him.

Why'd you turn back? You're supposed to be making a delivery in South Carolina today.

With all due respect, sir, you're lucky you didn't lose the ship entirely, not to mention the cargo and the crew.

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