Posts Tagged ‘oil spill’
Wednesday, February 8th, 2012
Apparently Gavin Newsom is back in town today to talk about “green” taxicabs, which is sort of funny since his whole life has revolved* around the oil industry. [Cough, PlumpJack, cough.] But anyway.
Let’s take a look at back when Gavin was Mayor, on a day in 2010 just after Mssrs. Matier and Ross broke the news connecting Gavin with an investment in Transocean back when it owned the Deepwater Horizon oil drilling rig.
Les mise-en-scene, Howard Street. What you’re seeing here is Gavin’s former ride (a gas-powered SUV with monstrous 6.0-litre engine) next to some mayoral types and some San Francisco Chronicle people in an off-the-record excloo interview:
Click to expand
And here’s Gavin raging at Matier and Ross* over this story. Let’s listen in, shall we?
“…YOU GOT ME DOWN THERE IN THE GULF…” “…WITH ALL THIS OIL COMING UP…”
Now he’s saying all this while waving his arms up and down in unison, pantomiming the out-of-control oil gushing up from the floor of the Gulf of Mexico.
Isn’t that funny?
From left: Gavin, Gavin’s engorged carotid artery, Andrew Ross, and SFGov security staring down the barrel of my camera lens through a pair of Foster Grants:
This was for tout le monde to hear right in front of Moscone Center West.
Now isn’t that funny?
*And continues to revolve.
**Phil Matier wasn’t on the scene, but you know, it’s been the team of Matier & Ross for as long as I can remember.
Tags: 2010, Andrew Ross, bay area, cabs, california, chronicle, Deepwater Horizon, gavin newsom, Governor, green, Gulf of Mexico, industry, jennifer, lt., matier and ross, Mayor, Newsom, oil spill, Pantomiming, phil matier, San Francisco, sfgov, siebel, txi, wife
Posted in politics | No Comments »
Tuesday, January 3rd, 2012
Well, this is news to me.
Check it, the biggest military shoulder patch in the world is worn by members of the Novato-based “Pacific Strike Team,” which is part of the National Strike Force, which is part of the Deployable Operations Group, which is part of the United States Coast Guard.
See? Here they are, training for disaster response up in Marin County last year.
“Petty Officer 2nd Class Sharina Lamonica and Petty Officer 3rd Class Grace Peterson setup a weather station during an exercise with National Strike Force’s Pacific Strike Team, Feb. 16, 2011. The Pacific Strike Team conducted the exercise as part of its annual Readiness for Operations inspection”
Click to expand and check it, the rake icon says “we’re here to clean up,” but the trident says something like “don’t mess with Texas.” Delightful. Via Chief Petty Officer Paul Roszkowski
And you thought Novato was just a cow town:
I moved your star about 100 clicks north of where you have it, Dawg. Novato’s in the North Bay, not the South, just saying.
All the deets:
“The Deployable Operations Group (DOG) is a United States Coast Guard command that provides properly equipped, trained and organized Deployable Specialized Forces (DSF) to Coast Guard, DHS, DoD and inter-agency operational and tactical commanders. Headquartered in Arlington, Virginia, it was established on 20 July 2007, and is commanded by a Rear Admiral lower half.”
“Each Strike Team is a highly trained cadre of Coast Guard professionals who maintain and rapidly deploy with specialized equipment and incident management skills wherever needed. The strike teams are recognized worldwide as expert authorities in the preparation for and response to the effects resulting from oil discharges, hazardous substance releases, weapons of mass destruction events, and other emergencies on behalf of the American public. There are three strike teams within the NSF. The Atlantic Strike Team (AST) is based at Fort Dix, New Jersey, the Gulf Strike Team (GST) is based in Mobile, Alabama, and the Pacific Strike Team is based in Novato, California.”
Thanks in advance, Pacific Strike Team.
Tags: 2011, 2012, 2nd, 3rd, bay area, bucolic, california, class, Coast Guard, county, Deployable Operations Group, disaster, dog, federal, Grace Peterson, inspection, logo, marin, military, National Strike Force, Novato, oil, oil spill, Pacific Strike Team, Petty Officer, rake, Readiness for Operations, response, San Francisco, Sharina Lamonica, shoulder patch, trident, U.S., United States, united states coast guard
Posted in military | 3 Comments »
Wednesday, May 11th, 2011
And just look what the China Ocean Shipping (Group) Company has for us.
As seen on Market Street.
It’s hard to tell at first, but the iPad2 logo is from an SFMTA ad. (I fooled myself for a moment there.)
Click to expand
Sorry about that bar pilot, COSCO.
Tags: 18 wheeler, 2007, 2011, apple, Bar Pilot, bay area, boxes, california, China Ocean Shipping (Group) Company, China Ocean Shipping Company, cosco, Cosco busan, ipad, ipad 2, ipad2, market, oil spill, San Francisco, street, truck
Posted in vessels | No Comments »
Wednesday, November 10th, 2010
Has it been only three years since the Cosco Busan, the leakiest 2001 Hyundai ever, spilled 58,000 gallons of bunker fuel* into the bay? Seems longer.
Anyway, turns out that a dude who supposed to be up front looking out for stuff in the pea soup fog was downstairs in the galley eating breakfast. I did not know that, no sir. Of course, the idea to depart on sked despite the fog came from the bar pilot, so that’s the person who’s primarily responsible. But there still plenty of blame to go around. Deets below.
Screeeeeeeeeeeeeeeech!
Click to expand
All right, it’s Blame Time:
The National Transportation Safety Board determined the following probable causes of the accident:
- the pilot’s degraded cognitive performance from his use of prescription medications, despite his completely clean post accident drug test,
- the absence of a comprehensive pre-departure master/pilot exchange and a lack of effective communication between Pilot John Cota and Master Mao Cai Sun during the accident voyage, and
- (COSCO Busan Master) Sun’s ineffective oversight of Cota’s piloting performance and the vessel’s progress.
Other contributing factors included:
- the failure of Fleet Management Ltd. to train the COSCO Busan crewmembers (which led to such acts of gross negligence as the bow lookout eating breakfast in the galley instead of being on watch) and Fleet Management’s failure to ensure that the crew understood and complied with the company’s safety management system;
- the failure of Caltrans to maintain foghorns on the bridge which were silent despite the heavy fog;
- the failure of Vessel Traffic Safety (VTS) to alert Cota and Sun that they were headed for the tower. VTS is legally required to alert a vessel if an accident appears imminent, yet they remained silent;
- the malfunctioning radar on the COSCO Busan, which led Captains Cota and Sun to use an electronic chart for the rest of the voyage. Although Coast Guard investigators found the radar to be in working order, they did not examine it until days after the accident (allowing time for faulty equipment to be fixed, which is not uncommon after a marine accident)
- Captain Sun’s incorrect identification of symbols on the electronic chart;
- the U.S. Coast Guard’s failure to provide adequate medical oversight of Cota, in view of the medical and medication information he had reported to the Coast Guard
Happy Anniversary, Cosco Busan, or should I say MSC Venezia? Don’t ever come back.
The patched-up ship finally hits the road, back in aught-seven – this was the last time we’ll ever see the Cosco Busan in the Bay Area, most likely:
*Yeah, Wiki is still wrong on that gallonage figure, partly due to the U.S. Coast Guard sitting on information for months and months ’cause they didn’t want to earn themselves any more bad press.
Tags: $10 million, 2007, agreement, Alameda, Assistant, attorney general, bar pilots, Bay, California Department of Fish and Game, Captain, charges, China, chinese, Coast Guard, Coast Guard Investigative Service, compliance, Cosco busan, cota, Criminal Investigation Division, department, discharge, district 11, Electronics Support Unit, Environment and Natural Resources Division, environmental, Environmental Crimes, EPA's, false, FBI, federal bureau of investigation, felony, firm, Fleet Management, Fleet Management Ltd, Hanjin, Hanjin Venezia, hing kong, Hyundai, Ignacia Moreno, Ignacia S. Moreno, Investigative Service, Joseph Castillo, Judge, justice, Justice Department, Legal Office, Ltd, management, Marine, Marine Safety Laboratory, masters, national transportation safety board, Nov. 7, ntsb, obstruction of justice, Office of Investigations and Analysis, Office of Maritime and International Law, Office of Vessel Activities, oil, Oil Pollution Act of 1990, oil spill, plea, Rear Admiral, report, Russoniello, San Francisco, san franicisco, Sector, Silicon Valley Regional Computer Forensics Laboratory, statement, Susan Illston, training, u. s., U.S. Attorney, U.S. District Court, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, united states coast guard, USCG, Venezia
Posted in events | No Comments »
Friday, February 19th, 2010
Here’s the news from the boys and girls at Justice, below.
Patched up and riding high – the last time we saw the Cosco Busan back in 2007. Will it ever come back? She’s called the MSC Venezia these days, currently working in the Canaries.
Oh well, she’s not the first Hyundai to leak oil into San Francsico Bay, and she won’t be the last.
The full release, after the jump
(more…)
Tags: $10 million, 2007, agreement, Alameda, Assistant, attorney general, bar pilots, Bay, California Department of Fish and Game, Captain, charges, China, chinese, Coast Guard, Coast Guard Investigative Service, compliance, Cosco busan, cota, Criminal Investigation Division, department, discharge, district 11, Electronics Support Unit, Environment and Natural Resources Division, environmental, Environmental Crimes, EPA's, false, FBI, federal bureau of investigation, felony, firm, Fleet Management, Fleet Management Ltd, Hanjin, Hanjin Venezia, hing kong, Hyundai, Ignacia Moreno, Ignacia S. Moreno, Investigative Service, Joseph Castillo, Judge, justice, Justice Department, Legal Office, Ltd, management, Marine, Marine Safety Laboratory, masters, national transportation safety board, Nov. 7, ntsb, obstruction of justice, Office of Investigations and Analysis, Office of Maritime and International Law, Office of Vessel Activities, oil, Oil Pollution Act of 1990, oil spill, plea, Rear Admiral, report, Russoniello, San Francisco, san franicisco, Sector, Silicon Valley Regional Computer Forensics Laboratory, statement, Susan Illston, training, U.S., U.S. Attorney, U.S. District Court, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, united states coast guard, USCG, Venezia
Posted in environment, vessels | No Comments »
Wednesday, February 18th, 2009
The United States Coast Guard has a bit of work to do per the National Transportation Safety Board‘s news release today regarding the Cosco Busan oil spill of 2007. Sure, the pilot and the shipping firm get blamed, but the USCG takes a few under the waterline as well.
Read on below. Note that they don’t call the Delta Tower of the Bay Bridge the “Delta Span” as many, many people have (including Captain Cota on the day in question). Also note the figure of 53,000 gallons mentioned by the NTSB. It’s not clear whether this is the latest estimate of the size of the spill or if it’s the same exact figure leadership elements of the USCG falsely quoted to the press for months for some idiotic reason having to do with not wanting to be criticised for changing their minds or something. Bad form, Coast Guard. Wiki still says 58,000 gallons or so, so that’s good enough for me.
The USCG buzzing about on a happier day:
Washington, DC – The National Transportation Safety Board determined today that a medically unfit pilot, an ineffective master, and poor communications between the two were the cause of an accident in which the Cosco Busan container ship spilled thousands of gallons of fuel oil into the San Francisco Bay after striking a bridge support tower.
On November 7, 2007, at about 8:00 a.m. PST, in heavy fog with visibility of less than a quarter mile, the Hong Kong- registered, 901-foot-long container ship M/V Cosco Busan left its berth in the Port of Oakland destined for South Korea. The San Francisco Bay pilot, who was attempting to navigate the ship between the Delta and Echo support towers of the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge, issued directions that resulted in the ship heading directly toward the Delta support tower. While avoiding a direct hit, the side of the ship struck the fendering system at the base of the Delta tower, which created a 212-foot-long gash in the ship’s forward port side and breached two fuel tanks and a ballast tank.
More deets after the jump.
(more…)
Tags: bar pilots, Captain, Coast Guard, Cosco busan, cota, national transportation safety board, ntsb, oil spill, report, san franicisco, U.S., united states coast guard, USCG
Posted in environment | 1 Comment »
Tuesday, March 18th, 2008
The headline? “Oil spill captain headed for brig/Feds charge man at helm of Cosco Busan.”
So let’s see here.
1. The captain of the oil spill ship Cosco Busan was actually Mao Cai Sun. The person referred to with federal charges was the pilot, John Cota.
2. It’s far from certain John Cota will ever serve any time for his actions. Perhaps a question mark after the headline would help make it operational?
3. Finally, John Cota wasn’t “at the helm” Here’s somebody at a ship helm, in this case the mariner is behind the wheel of a Doral:
The helmsman at the time of the accident was a Chinese national, not John Cota.
This explains it all: “Cadet Zack Townsend at the helm under the captain’s command with the pilot’s advice.” That’s how it usually works, anyway.
In another action concerning John Cota’s licensing status, things are bogging down:
“The tentative hearing date of April 28, 2008 was vacated. The ALJ ordered a new hearing date of September 2, 2008. Current estimates for the length of the hearing is 15 days. The hearing will be held for four days each week until completed as follows: September 2 – 5, 8 – 11, 15 – 18, and 22 – 25. The hearing will commence each day at 9:00 a.m. and will be held in an Office of Administrative Hearings’ courtroom in the Elihu Harris State Building, 1515 Clay Street, Oakland, California.”
Anything for a fair hearing.
Tags: Cosco busan, Examiner, helm, John Cota, oil spill, San Francisco, ship
Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »
