Investigators weigh whether speed, communications contributed to San Francisco Bay spill

OAKLAND, Calif. — Coast Guard investigators were trying to determine whether a cargo ship's speed and possible communication problems led to a collision that resulted in the San Francisco Bay's worst oil spill in nearly two decades.

A preliminary Coast Guard investigation into found that human error, not mechanical failure, caused the ship to sideswipe a support on the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge.

"One of the things we are looking at, as with any investigation with the weather conditions we saw — specifically heavy fog — would be what speed was the ship traveling and was that appropriate given the visibility at the time?" Coast Guard Cmdr. Brendan McPherson said Sunday.

The Cosco Busan's collision with the bridge Wednesday left a gash nearly 100 feet long on the side of the 926-foot vessel and ruptured two of the vessel's fuel tanks, causing about 58,000 gallons of heavy bunker fuel to leak into the bay. The spill has killed dozens of sea birds and spurred the closure of nearly two dozen beaches and piers.

Investigators were focusing on possible communication problems between the ship's crew, the pilot guiding the vessel and the Vessel Traffic Service, the Coast Guard station that monitors the bay's shipping traffic.

Coast Guard Cmdr. Andrew Wood said "the mere fact that they collided with a fixed object" offered clear evidence that a communication problem had occurred.

"There were skilled enough individuals on board this ship. They didn't carry out their missions correctly," said Rear Adm. Craig Bone, the Coast Guard's top official in California.

A language barrier between the vessel's pilot, Capt. John Cota, and the ship's all-Chinese crew was not likely a factor in the crash, since the ship's captain and officers are required to speak English, officials said.

The National Transportation Safety Board was slated to take over the investigation of the crash. U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., and Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., have both called for swift and thorough investigations of the spill and Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has declared a state of emergency.

Feinstein planned Sunday to get a briefing from Coast Guard officials on the spill. Her scheduled helicopter flyover to observe environmental damage was called off, according to a Coast Guard spokeswoman.

Coast Guard Commandant Adm. Thad Allen was scheduled to arrive from Washington, D.C., later Sunday to take an aerial tour of the damage.