COSCO Busan departs Bay Area

COSCO Busan departs Bay Area The ill-fated container vessel COSCO Busan, which sideswiped a footing of the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge on Nov. 7 and subsequently spilled nearly 60,000 gallons of bunker fuel into Bay Area waters, sailed out of San Francisco Bay Thursday headed for a repair facility in Asia.
   The Busan transited under the Golden Gate Bridge without incident late Thursday after receiving U.S. Coast Guard clearance to resume maritime commerce. Nearly 160 feet of temporary plating covering the gash caused by the collision was clearly visible to spectators that watched from the San Francisco Bay landmark.

Image: Courtesy of the USCG: The Cosco Busan departs San Francisco Bay on Dec. 20, 2007

   The vessel, which had been held in the Bay under several orders including a hold by the Coast Guard, was allowed to leave after the federal government and the Hong Kong-based owners of the ship resolved legal issues regarding liability for more than $55 million in costs incurred by the oil spill.
   The ship owners posted a $79.5 million bond, which according to the U.S. Justice Department, will serve as a security deposit to cover additional costs for the cleanup and any possible judgment in civil cases against the ship owner. Federal law limits the bond amount to the value of the vessel.
   The Coast Guard Captain of the Port previously directed the master of the Busan to keep the ship in port in order to ensure the vessel’s seaworthiness; the crew’s proper training in bridge management in accordance with international standards; and that U.S. legal interests are protected in the event the owner, operator, or person in charge is subject to a fine or civil penalty.

Image: Courtesy of the USCG: The Cosco Busan departs San Francisco Bay on Dec. 20, 2007

   Investigations into the incident by the Coast Guard and the National Transportation Safety Board continue.
   On Tuesday, Coast Guard Commandant Adm. Thad Allen told a Senate Commerce subcommittee that the cost of the oil spill cleanup is likely to surpass the nearly $62 million liability limits carried by the Busan owners to cover an oil spill incident. U.S. and International law sets different maximum limits on the liability required for cargo vessels based on the type of incident involved. The Nov. 7 incident is covered under the U.S. Oil Protection Act of 1990, which sets the $61.8 million liability limit. Costs above the liability limit of the vessel will be paid from a nearly $1 billion federal oil spill fund set up for just such situations. The liability cap could be lifted if the Justice Department finds that the incident was caused by gross negligence.
   Allen has previously said, without identifying any individual, that the incident was the result of human error on the part of one or all of the four-man bridge crew, which included three Chinese crew members and a local bar pilot.
   The local bar pilot, Capt. John Cota, has been named along with the ship owners and vessel insurer in several lawsuits. State and federal officials have either revoked or suspended Cota's licenses since the incident. State officials filed charges of misconduct against Cota on Dec. 6 and ordered him to voluntarily turn over his state-issued pilots license by Thursday. While there was no immediate word if Cota complied with the order, his lawyer on Friday asked the state Board of Pilot Commissioners for a hearing from an administrative law judge in Oakland on the misconduct charges. ' Keith Higginbotham