NTSB finds multiple reasons for spill

WASHINGTON, Feb. 18 (UPI) -- Federal officials said Wednesday health problems, ineffectiveness and poor communications led to a 2007 shipping accident and fuel spill in San Francisco Bay.

The National Transportation Safety Board determined the pilot of the Cosco Busan container ship was medically unfit because of medications he was taking. The board also found the ship's master was ineffective and there was poor communication between the two men. The board also faulted the U.S. Coast Guard for failing to be on top of things.

The 900-foot Hong Kong-registered Cosco Busan, bound from Oakland to South Korea, spilled 53,000 gallons of fuel oil into San Francisco Bay after striking a bridge support tower in heavy fog the morning of Nov. 7, 2007.

About 26 miles of shoreline was contaminated and more than 2,500 birds were killed. The cleanup cost more than $70 million, while the ship had $1 million in damage and the bridge $1.5 million.

"How a man who was taking a half-dozen impairing prescription medications got to stand on the bridge of a 68,000-ton ship and give directions to guide the vessel through a foggy bay and under a busy highway bridge, is very troubling, and raises a great many questions about the adequacy of the medical oversight system for mariners," said NTSB Acting Chairman Mark V. Rosenker.

Rosenker found plenty of blame to go around, saying the ship's operator, Fleet Management Ltd., failed to properly train and prepare crew members and the U.S. Coast Guard should have yanked the pilot's license.

"There was a lack of competence in so many areas that this accident seemed almost inevitable," he said.

The board made eight safety recommendations -- five to the

Coast Guard, two to Fleet Management and one to the American Pilots' Association.