Marine

13.11, oil spill

US: Coast Guard investigators tried to determine whether speed and possible communication problems led to fully cellular containership COSCO Busan contacting a bridge a week earlier that resulted in San Francisco Bay’s worst oil spill in nearly two decades. Heavy-duty bunker fuel spread along the San Francisco city waterfront and out of San Francisco Bay, beneath the Golden Gate Bridge towards Marin County. More than 500 birds were found dead. Authorities closed several beaches and shorelines to the public because of health concerns. They also banned fishing in key locations on Port of San Francisco property. A preliminary Coast Guard investigation found that human error, not mechanical failure, caused the ship to sideswipe a support on the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge. The crabbing season was scheduled to open but Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger suspended all fishing in and around the San Francisco Bay. US Senator Dianne Feinstein met with Coast Guard officials and said the system for responding to spills needed to be improved. The Coast Guard said dense fog hampered efforts to launch helicopters and deploy cleanup equipment after the spill. The US attorney’s office opened a criminal investigation. A National Transportation Safety Board team is to investigate the cause of the accident.