COSCO BUSAN (Hong Kong)

The US Coast Guard and the pilot and skipper of fully cellular containership COSCO Busan share the blame for the vessel’s 2007 crash into the Bay Bridge that caused a 200,000 litre oil spill in San Francisco Bay, the National Transportation Safety Board said.
Contributing to the disaster was the coast guard’s failure to provide adequate medical oversight to the pilot and the failure of Fleet Management Ltd., the Hong Kong firm that owns the ship, to train crew members adequately before the ill-fated voyage, the safety board said.
The final report reflected sentiments expressed at the safety board’s hearing on the accident in Washington, DC in February.
The board said the coast guard “should have provided the pilot and the master with unambiguous information about the vessel’s proximity” to the tower.
But the board said it could not determine whether the crash could have been avoided had the vessel been given that information.
The pilot pleaded guilty in March to misdemeanor charges of violating the federal Clean Water Act and the Migratory Bird Act in a plea bargain agreement that calls for him to serve two to ten months in prison and be fined between up to US$30,000.