Cosco Busan - "All Right... who put that bridge there???"

[Derell Licht]

Shipping events occur even in my provincial San Francisco Bay :oops: :

"SAN FRANCISCO -- The 920-foot container ship Cosco Busan, heading out of the San Francisco Bay from the Port Of Oakland, collided with a support tower of the fog-shrouded Bay Bridge early Wednesday, leaving it with a 70-foot gash in its side and leaking oil into the bay.

A veteran bay pilot was at the helm of the massive ship, guiding it out of the Bay at the time of the collision which occurred at about 8:30 a.m. during the morning commute but did not disrupt traffic on the bridge."


Complete report from my local KTVU website:
http://www.ktvu.com/news/14532288/detail.html

Here's a good shot of the damage:
http://66.35.240.8/cgi-bin/object/article?o=1&f=/c/a/2007/11/07/BAH3T81G7.DTL

Here's a shot of her from better days (not shot by me):
http://www.shipspotting.com/modules/myalbum/photo.php?lid=415664

[Magogman]

My son lives in San Francisco, near downtown, and as usual, this is the first I have heard of the accident.  He was even oblivious to the Queen Mary 2 coming to San Fran.!!!!

[Derell Licht]

Oh, Jesus...

It was *one* thing when the spill was 140 gallons; still sad, but I could joke about it.  *NOW* they're saying it's 58,000 gallons!!  How in the Hells did that happen??  I thought they'd stopped the leak yesterday afternoon??

From the Coast Guard report last night:

" SAN FRANCISCO -- The agencies involved in the response to the M/V Cosco Busan striking the San Francisco Bay Bridge have announced several beach closures throughout the bay as a result of the bunker fuel that has spilled into the bay.  The following beaches are closed until further notice as a precautionary measure for public health concerns; Baker Beach, Crissy Field, China Beach, Kirby Cove, and Fort Point.

 
A preliminary estimation of the actual amount of fuel spilled into the bay has been announced at 58,000 gallons Wednesday night using tank measurement methods.  Approximately 8,000 gallons have been recovered as of 8:30 p.m."

Oh Gods, my poor bay... 58,000 gallons, right in the middle of the bay, our poor Leopard Sharks, our fishes...  :cry:   :-x

[Nathan]

At least it wasnt a 'skyway bridge' result!
Good job it stayed standing!

[Captain John K]

Good links!  ...but one minor point. The incident was not a collision, it was an allision.

A vessel collides with another moving vessel.... A vessel  allides with a fixed object (unless it is submerged) is presumed at fault.


Marine Dictionary - Allision

[Derell Licht]

Whoa!!!  I've never heard of that word before!!  When I saw it on the Coast Guard incident website, I thought it was a typo that they were too busy to correct... I'm sure glad I didn't send them any teasing messages about it!!

And neither of my dictionaries shows the word.  I'd almost have thought you were spoofing the Coast Guard reports, if you hadn't provided the Marine Dictionary link.

[Derell Licht]

I thought it was interesting that the Pilot's Association removed the pilot from the ship almost immediately, so the Coast Guard was not able to talk to him until the next day.  They (the Pilot's Association) claim that they gave him a breathalyser test within the hour and he passed, but I would have felt more confident if he'd been tested by a, shall we say, more objective party??

According to the Mercury News article:
" Most recently, in February 2006, Cota (the pilot) was at the bridge of a bulk carrier ship, the Pioneer, when it ran aground in the mud off Antioch. There were no injuries or spills. He was found at fault by the pilot board, however, and received a letter of reprimand."

So, while he *was* a very experienced pilot, he *has* had recent problems...

[Magogman]

An Associated Press article posted on www.yahoo.com Sunday, Nov. 11, 2007 has an update on the San Francisco Bay oil spill which has now polluted a large portion of San Francisco Bay and has moved out of the Bay into the Pacific, washing ashore at  the Point Reyes National Seashore, a pristine shoreline north of San Francisco Bay.   Preliminary Coast Guard investigation has pointed the finger at human error as the cause of the collision which caused the oil spill (that should  be pretty obvious since the ship collided with the protective material of a bridge pier in heavy fog).  With high level political involvement from the Governor of California (Arnold, the Governator as he is known) and California's U.S. Senators among others, it should come as no surprise that the federal U.S. Attorney's office is investigating whether criminal charges are warrented.  --There are at least three if not more separate investigations now in progress.

A pretty decent slide show on the spill, with 48 images, is with the story on yahoo.com. :-(

[Captain John K]

We have found some AIS data that charts the path of the Cosco Busan on its path to San Francisco's Bay Bridge.

Follow the Path of the Cosco Busan

You may also be interested in my first editorial on the incident:
Cosco Busan - Who (or what) is to Blame?