Large vehicles or ships designed to carry and transport liquid cargo like oil, water, or chemicals in a large container.
From 'tank' (a large container for liquid), derived from Portuguese/Spanish 'tanque' or Hindi 'thangee.' The suffix '-er' indicates a vehicle or device designed for a purpose. 'Tank' was originally a military term before becoming shipping terminology.
Oil tankers have wild regulations—the Exxon Valdez disaster in 1989 changed maritime law so dramatically that now double-hulled tankers are required. Before that, a single puncture could leak an entire ocean's worth of problems. Now tankers are engineered like underwater armor.
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