Coast Guard: Other ships delayed departure day of bay oil spill

WASHINGTON - The Cosco Busan was the only big ship to get under way the morning it sideswiped the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge as at least four other large vessels delayed their departure in heavy fog, the Coast Guard said today.

The decision of the Cosco Busan's crew and pilot to get moving despite the weather is a focus of the Coast Guard's investigation into the Nov. 7 collision that spilled 53,000 gallons of oil into the fragile bay.

Rear Adm. Craig Bone, the Coast Guard commander for California, disclosed the findings at a briefing with reporters today.

With visibility less than a quarter-mile, pilots and crew on the other four ships "deemed it prudent not to get under way until visibility improved," Bone said.

"The Cosco Busan was the vessel that got under way," Bone said.

"These human decisions are critical elements to causal factors of this casualty," he said.

Bone also disclosed that the Coast Guard has instituted a new policy in the Port of San Francisco prohibiting large ships from traveling in certain areas of the port where visibility is less than half-a-mile.

The ongoing Coast Guard investigation is one of several under way. Bone revealed some information that has been learned and preliminary steps being taken, but declined to reveal some details or assign blame for whose decision it was to start the ship that morning.

The Cosco Busan's pilot, Capt. John Cota, has been charged with criminal negligence and breaking

environmental laws. He pleaded not guilty earlier this month.

In citing human error, Bone noted that Cota wasn't the only one on board the ship that morning, but he didn't single anyone out.

A report from the inspector general of the Homeland Security Department is due out next month, and the National Transportation Safety Board is also holding a hearing next month. A Justice Department investigation is ongoing, along with congressional probes.