HOUSTON (AP) — Capt. Kristi Taylor watches the approaching ship from the bridge of the Pamisos, an oil tanker 750 feet long and 138 feet wide. She lets the giant vessels go bow-to-bow until they're six-tenths of a mile apart. The crew awaits her orders.

The Houston Chronicle (http://bit.ly/2ocdJbG ) reports it's maneuver both commonplace and potentially catastrophic. Taylor has met and passed thousands of ships without incident. But she knows just one wrong move could cost millions or even billions of dollars in damages, spill oil into the channel or risk the lives of those onboard. The captai...