Evidence
12 evidence entries recorded; each entry has a stable permalink (#ev-1 … #ev-12).
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[1]CourtListener opinion search: 'USNS Glomar Explorer' [court_record]
- Finding type
- litigation_documented
- Finding
- CourtListener opinion search 'USNS Glomar Explorer' returned 0 results (2026-10-07)
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- negative_finding
- Documentation level
- context_only
- Limitations
- zero-hit search; absence of hits is not proof of no litigation
- Evidence ID
- usns-glomar-explorer-cl-name-opinion
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[2]CourtListener docket search: 'USNS Glomar Explorer' [court_record]
- Finding type
- litigation_documented
- Finding
- CourtListener docket search 'USNS Glomar Explorer' returned 5 result(s) (2026-10-07); individual records not reviewed
- Verification
- unverified
- Role
- archival_lead
- Documentation level
- context_only
- Limitations
- hit count only — underlying dockets/opinions not individually reviewed; name query may match same-named vessels
- Evidence ID
- usns-glomar-explorer-cl-name-docket
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[3]Juliano v. Johns-Manville Corp., 416 Pa. Super. 321, 611 A.2d 238 (Pa. Super. Ct. June 16, 1992) (Wieand, J.; panel Wieand, Tamilia, Cercone), Prod. Liab. Rep. (CCH) P 13,381 [court_record]
- Locator
- Opinion text, product-identification discussion (416 Pa. Super. at 325-326; 611 A.2d at 241-242)
- Finding type
- litigation_product_id
- Finding
- Affirmed jury verdict: Peter Juliano, a Sun Shipbuilding chipper/tank tester 1965-1973, was awarded $200,000 for asbestos-caused pulmonary and emotional injuries; Fibreboard Corp. was one of twelve manufacturers found responsible. Welder Owen McPherson (Sun Ship 1943-1976) testified he had worked on at least two of the same ships as Juliano - the Glomar Explorer and the Manhattan - and recalled PABCO and Owens-Corning products 'with asbestos noted on the packaging' in use throughout the yard, used primarily for pipe insulation in the engine and boiler rooms of ships, the areas where Juliano most frequently labored; Juliano recalled using paste-form Kaylo. The Superior Court held the product-identification evidence sufficient and affirmed.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-19
- Study period
- 1965-1973 (exposure window); 1992 (opinion)
- Population
- Sun Shipbuilding construction trades - chipper/tank tester plaintiff and welder witness, 1965-1973 window covering this hull's construction
- Limitations
- Affirmed judgment (most final stage reached) - but the exposure finding is workplace-level across hulls at Sun Ship, not isolated to this vessel: the opinion names the Glomar Explorer as one of at least two ships both plaintiff and witness worked on, and does not establish that asbestos was installed aboard this hull specifically, nor quantity. Documents construction-period (1971-73 build window) exposure at the builder yard, not in-service conditions. The opinion's 'engine and boiler rooms' phrasing describes shipboard work areas generically - this diesel-electric hull had no propulsion boilers. CourtListener endpoints returned HTTP 403 on 2026-09-19; opinion text verified against the official reporter text via vLex and secondary renderings.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-usns-glomar-explorer-01
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[4]U.S. Maritime Administration, ShipHistory database - GLOMAR EXPLORER (AG-193), detail record incl. scanned Form MA-383 Reserve Fleet Ship Particulars card and Form MA-199 Vessel Status Card [marad_nrc]
- Locator
- MARAD ShipHistory Detail 1970 milestones; status card images /cards/1970_3666AF.jpg (MA-383) and /cards/4ea96758-bf59-41a7-bcf7-3fb66d60c68b.png (MA-199)
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- MARAD records document: built by Sun Shipbuilding & DD Co., Chester, PA, builder's hull no. 661; date built 7/73; U.S. Official No. 547,527; type 'Survey Vessel,' design 'Mining'; delivered from shipyard to Summa Corp., Encino, CA; custody chain Summa Corp. -> Department of the Navy -> Maritime Administration custody at Suisun Bay 1/17/77 (entered 1230 PST, 'Navy Retention' category) -> withdrawn by Navy for operation 6/1/78 ('Leased to Global Marine Development Inc.') -> returned to Reserve Fleet, Suisun Bay, 4/25/80; renamed GLOMAR EXPLORER 1978; withdrawn from MARAD custody 11/5/1996. Specifications per card: LOA 618 ft, breadth 115 ft, draft 38 ft; 27,455 gross / 18,511 net tons; 39,705 DWT; 63,300 displ.; five 16-cylinder Nordberg Mfg. Co. oil engines; twin screw. Data source noted as 1976 ABS Record.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- supporting
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-19
- Study period
- 1973-1996 (card coverage); record accessed 2026-09-19
- Population
- NDRF Suisun Bay caretaker/maintenance personnel during layup (no asbestos data on card)
- Limitations
- Official MARAD record of identity, custody, and machinery - contains no asbestos or insulation-material information. The record's 'fate' field ('Transferred - U.S. Govt.') and name-history line ('GSF Explorer 2005-present') are stale; the ship was scrapped in 2015. Custody entries document layup custody, not operational status.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-usns-glomar-explorer-02
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[5]Central Intelligence Agency, CIA Museum exhibit page 'Project AZORIAN' (official agency retrospective) [museum_official]
- Locator
- CIA Museum exhibit text, 'About Project AZORIAN' sections
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Official CIA account: the Hughes Glomar Explorer was built under cover as Howard Hughes's commercial deep-sea mining vessel to recover the Soviet Golf II-class submarine K-129 (lost March 1968, located ~1,800 miles northwest of Hawaii at 16,500 ft). Construction ran about four years; the ship incorporated a derrick, pipe-transfer crane, docking legs, capture vehicle, and a center docking well ('moon pool'). She sailed from Long Beach, arrived over the site 1974-07-04, and conducted salvage for more than two months under Soviet surveillance; the submarine section broke apart during the lift and only a portion was recovered - including the bodies of six Soviet submariners, buried at sea with military honors. Press disclosures beginning with the Los Angeles Times 1975-02-07 blew the cover; further recovery was cancelled.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-19
- Study period
- 1968-1975
- Population
- Glomar crew (mission personnel, 1974); six Soviet submariners recovered
- Limitations
- Official agency history establishes mission, dates, and cover story; contains no asbestos or materials information. CIA's 'six-year effort' framing spans program inception 1968/1970 through cancellation; construction detail is descriptive, not a materials record.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-usns-glomar-explorer-03
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[6]ShipScribe (Stephen S. Roberts), 'USS Glomar Explorer (AG 193) Class' - transcription of Naval Vessel Register construction/disposition data and class notes, compiled 2021-10-18 [other_primary]
- Locator
- shipscribe.com/usnaux2/AG/AG193.html - construction/disposition tables, class notes, ship notes
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- NVR-derived data: Navy acquisition 1976-09-30; keel May 1971; launched 1972-11-04; struck 2007-11-19; disposal 2010-03-26 by Navy sale; laid up NDRF Suisun Bay 1977-01-17 with lifting towers cut down; withdrawn to Navy custody 1978-06-01 and fitted at Bethlehem Steel's San Pedro (Long Beach) yard with a tethered self-propelled mining vehicle under a Global Marine Development lease (tests completed late 1978; project cancelled); returned to NDRF 1980-04-25; held in Suisun Bay as a Navy mobilization asset from July 1984; leased to Global Marine Drilling Co. 1996-07-02 under 30-year terms at $1M/yr and withdrawn from MARAD custody 1996-11-05; stripped at Hunters Point Naval Shipyard (1996), then converted at Cascade General Shipyard, Portland OR (moon pool closed with ~2,040 tons of new steel; electrical, piping, ventilation, steering overhaul) and Atlantic Marine, Mobile AL (derrick, drilling equipment, 11 azimuthing thrusters, 35,200 hp combined); completed 1998 as GSF Explorer; Transocean fleet from Nov 2007; sold by Navy March 2010; reflagged Port Vila, Vanuatu 2013; idled at Labuan; arrived Zhoushan, China for scrapping 2015-06-05. Specs: 618.7 x 115.7 x 46 ft; 21,000 t light / 63,300 t flooded; 13,200 hp diesel-electric, 2 screws, automated dynamic positioning; accommodations 178.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-19
- Study period
- 1971-2015
- Population
- Conversion yard workers (Hunters Point stripping; Cascade General; Atlantic Marine), 1996-1998
- Limitations
- Secondary compilation transcribing NVR entries (compiler Stephen S. Roberts; special source Polmar & White, Naval Institute Press 2010) - the underlying NVR detail page for AG-193 rendered only a site shell on 2026-09-19, so figures could not be re-verified against the register itself; dates agree with the MARAD status cards where they overlap. Contains no asbestos or materials information.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-usns-glomar-explorer-04
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[7]Secretary of Labor v. Sun Shipbuilding & Dry Dock Company, OSHRC Docket No. 3235 (Commission opinion July 23, 1975; ALJ Gold decision Feb. 25, 1974) [other_primary]
- Locator
- OSHRC decision text, Citation No. 2 discussion (Docket 3235)
- Finding type
- regulatory
- Finding
- An OSHA general-duty-clause citation issued May 15, 1973 charged that Sun Shipbuilding employees were transported to work locations aboard the M/V Hughes Glomar Explorer in a 400-lb corrugated-steel material box suspended by wire-rope legs from a deck crane, including lifts to stations about 65 feet above the pier. The ALJ vacated the contested citations; the Commission affirmed (Citation 2 affirmed by an equally divided Commission, so without precedential weight as to that item).
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-19
- Study period
- 1973 (inspection/citation); 1974-1975 (adjudication)
- Population
- Sun Shipbuilding riggers and trades working aboard the hull under construction, 1973
- Limitations
- Workplace-safety enforcement record naming the hull during construction at Chester - documents shipboard work practice in 1973 only. Contains no asbestos or materials finding; the citation concerning the vessel was vacated. Not exposure evidence.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-usns-glomar-explorer-05
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[8]Phillippi v. Central Intelligence Agency, 546 F.2d 1009 (D.C. Cir. 1976); Phillippi v. CIA, 655 F.2d 1325 (D.C. Cir. 1981); see also Military Audit Project v. Casey, 656 F.2d 724 (D.C. Cir. 1981) [court_record]
- Locator
- 546 F.2d 1009 opinion text (Justia); 655 F.2d 1325; 656 F.2d 724
- Finding type
- litigation_documented
- Finding
- Non-asbestos litigation naming the vessel: the FOIA 'Glomar response' lineage. Phillippi v. CIA upheld the Agency's neither-confirm-nor-deny response to a request for records on CIA contacts with media about the Glomar Explorer project; the follow-on 1981 Phillippi opinion and Military Audit Project v. Casey continued the records-disclosure fight over Project AZORIAN. The ship's name became the doctrinal label for the refusal to confirm or deny the existence of records.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-19
- Study period
- 1975-1981 (litigation); project records sought concerned 1974-1975 events
- Limitations
- Other litigation - not asbestos, not exposure. Establishes only the federal litigation posture over project records; no workplace, materials, or health findings. Classified 'other litigation' per batch litigation-stage discipline.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-usns-glomar-explorer-06
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[9]The Maritime Executive, 'Grand Finale for Infamous Glomar Explorer' Parts 1-2 (Tony Munoz, June 2015) [reputable_press]
- Locator
- MarEx Part 2 (conversion narrative, Janik/Wilkes interviews); Part 1 (layup and Suisun history)
- Finding type
- vessel_history
- Finding
- Trade-press documentation of the 1996-98 drillship conversion and material condition at reopening: the interior had been nitrogen-inerted for roughly two decades during Navy/MARAD layup, leaving electrical equipment and cabling 'pristine'; Phase 1 at Cascade General Shipyard, Portland added ~2,040 tons (4.5 million lb) of steel to close the moon pool and overhauled electrical, piping, ventilation, and steering systems; Phase 2 at Atlantic Marine's Mobile, Alabama yard fitted the derrick, drilling equipment, and 11 azimuthing thrusters (35,200 hp combined); original recovery equipment was removed and disposed. Completed 1998; first well for Chevron in ~7,800 ft of water (Mississippi Canyon), a world record; Transocean decided to scrap the vessel in April 2015.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-19
- Study period
- 1996-1998; 2015
- Population
- Global Marine Drilling / EPD conversion crews, 1996-1998
- Limitations
- Reputable trade press; documents conversion scope and layup condition but publishes no hazmat or abatement detail - whether asbestos was encountered or removed during stripping/conversion is not stated. Nitrogen inerting bears on preserved material condition only; it does not establish presence or absence of asbestos.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-usns-glomar-explorer-07
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[10]ASME, 'Hughes Glomar Explorer' Historic Mechanical Engineering Landmark brochure (designated July 20, 2006, Houston, TX) [other_primary]
- Locator
- ASME landmark brochure no. 239, 'The Mission: The Jennifer Project' and contractor credit block
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- Engineering-landmark record documents the construction program: the U.S. government approached Global Marine Inc. in early 1970; Global Marine was designated prime contractor, system integrator, and operations manager (Aug 1970 proposal); Sun Shipbuilding & Drydock Co. selected April 1971 to construct the vessel; Lockheed Ocean Systems Division developed the capture-vehicle claw; Hughes Tool Co. fabricated the heavy lift pipe; the hull launched November 1972; completed July 1973 at a cost ASME states as over $200 million; mobilized via Cape Horn arriving U.S. West Coast September 1973; declared mission-ready May 1974; salvage mission commenced July 1974, completed in about five weeks. Notes the 1996 conversion removed and disposed of the unique recovery equipment.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-19
- Study period
- 1970-2006
- Population
- Construction and program contractors (Global Marine, Sun Ship, Lockheed, Hughes Tool), 1970-1974
- Limitations
- Engineering-heritage recordation; documents program roles and machinery innovations (claw, gimbaled mount, dynamic positioning) - no asbestos or insulation-material content. ASME's >$200M cost figure conflicts with press accounts (~$350M); carried as reported range, not adjudicated. 'Project Jennifer' is a public mislabel - the security codeword was JENNIFER applied to handling, not the project name.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-usns-glomar-explorer-08
-
[11]U.S. EPA, Asbestos NESHAP overview (40 CFR 61 Subpart M; promulgated April 6, 1973, 38 FR 8826) and EPA 'U.S. Federal Bans on Asbestos' regulatory history [federal_register]
- Locator
- EPA NESHAP overview page; EPA federal-bans snapshot (1973 spray-applied ban; 1975 pipe/block insulation ban)
- Finding type
- regulatory
- Finding
- The hull's 1971-73 construction window immediately precedes and straddles the first federal asbestos bans: EPA promulgated the Asbestos NESHAP on April 6, 1973 (banning spray-applied asbestos fireproofing/insulation) and in 1975 banned installation of friable pre-formed and wet-applied asbestos pipe insulation and block insulation on facility components. Asbestos products remained lawful and in documented use at the builder yard throughout this hull's construction (see ev-01).
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- context
- Documentation level
- class_or_era
- Accessed
- 2026-09-19
- Study period
- 1971-1975
- Population
- Construction-era workforce context
- Limitations
- Regulatory-era context only - establishes the legal/material environment during construction, not what was installed in this hull. NESHAP addresses facility emission standards, not shipboard outfitting specifically; ship-specific applications remain inference.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-usns-glomar-explorer-09
-
[12]Batch-414 search ledger (this record): MARAD status cards; NDRF/lease records; conversion coverage; litigation indexes; museum disclosures [other_primary]
- Locator
- search_ledger rows sl-usns-glomar-explorer-01 through sl-usns-glomar-explorer-12
- Finding type
- historical_record
- Finding
- No hull-specific asbestos survey, abatement contract, hazmat or Inventory of Hazardous Materials (IHM) disclosure, and no in-service exposure record located in the public sources searched. The only docketed asbestos record naming this hull is the construction-period Juliano verdict (ev-01). The 2015 scrapping at Zhoushan predated enforceable Hong Kong Convention IHM requirements, so no hazardous-materials inventory for this hull is expected in the public record.
- Verification
- verified
- Role
- negative_finding
- Documentation level
- ship_specific
- Accessed
- 2026-09-19
- Study period
- 2026-09-19
- Limitations
- Absence of a located public record does not prove absence of asbestos aboard during construction or service - the Juliano record documents asbestos products in shipboard work areas at the yard. CourtListener endpoints were unreachable (HTTP 403) on 2026-09-19; name-search coverage ran through the web index, so docket-level completeness is not guaranteed. Does not establish or defeat any claim of exposure or legal eligibility.
- Atlas source
- true
- Evidence ID
- ev-usns-glomar-explorer-10