Other Vessels Waited...Cosco Busan Sailed

Heavy fog and poor visibility in the SF Bay, were reasons cited by those in charge, of four other large ships not to set sail the morning of November 7.  The Cosco Busan container ship, on the other hand, threw caution to the wind and sailed into the bay and straight into the Bay Bridge, causing a 53,000 gallon oil spill in the process.

The spill, which coated miles of Bay area shoreline and beaches with the oil, was also responsible for the deaths of thousands of birds.  Investigators have since discovered that no mechanical failure contributed to the crash, but that it was attributable entirely to human error.

"Pretty clearly, this vessel got under way in fog (when there) was less than a quarter-mile of visibility," Rear Adm. Craig Bone, the service's top commander in California, said at a briefing in Washington.

Now the Coast Guard has placed restrictions on vessels weighing more than 1,600 gross tons.  They won't be allowed to sail into the Bay when visibility is less than half a mile.  Too late for the Cosco Busan, but maybe it will prevent another disaster in the future.