The grounding of the "Arrow", its subsequent break-up and sinking were a series of events that could have been avoided.

This section intends to outline the root causes of this tragedy and how these problems were ignored and dismissed by the Captain, its owners, and its government and industry supervisors. Then, the events after the February 4 accident will be dissected day by day in order to gain a full understanding of the mistakes made by many people involved. Also detailed are the lack of corporate or government contingency plans that would have minimized some of the ecological and economic damage from oil continually flowing from the wounded tanker. This section is not intended to admonish nor administer blame to any individual or group involved in the spill; instead, the intent is to illuminate the facts surrounding this pivotal moment in Canadian history.