Bill would give USCG emergency command authority over ships

[hellwoman]

Thursday, December 27, 2007

NATION/WORLD

Bill Would Give Coast Guard Emergency Command Authority Over Ships

LOG NEWS SERVICE - U.S. Sen. Barbara Boxer has introduced legislation aimed at preventing oil spills like the one that resulted after the container ship Cosco Busan struck the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge Nov. 7, spilling 58,000 gallons of oil into San Francisco Bay. The spill killed thousands of birds, caused a suspension of fishing and crabbing in the area, coated local boats and marina facilities with oil and forced the closure of more than a dozen beaches.

Boxer's bill - S. 2430, the Maritime Emergency Prevention Act of 2007 - aims to improve the safety of ships in and around U.S. ports by strengthening the authority and the resources of the Coast Guard's Vessel Traffic Service. Boxer, D-Calif., said this bill will ensure that the Coast Guard has the authority to order ships to change speed or course in an emergency or during hazardous conditions.

"If the Coast Guard VTS sees a ship like Cosco Busan headed in the wrong direction and traveling too fast, they should have the authority to intervene. We're talking about situations where seconds and minutes can make all of the difference in the world - there isn't time for second-guessing and ambiguity," Boxer said.

The measure, which is cosponsored by Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., also authorizes $20 million in funding for the Coast Guard to upgrade VTS technology and would, where necessary, require pilots to have their own navigational laptop computers.

"This legislation makes it clear that the Coast Guard has the authority to intervene if a ship is in imminent danger or distress. Therefore, there is no doubt that the captain of a port can stop a ship in the event of an emergency," Feinstein said.

The bill has been referred to the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation.



http://www.thelog.com/news/newsview.asp?c=232742

[hellwoman]

SF Bay Oil Spill May Prompt New Restrictions
Thursday, November 29, 2007


Cleanup Continues - After the Cosco Busan incident, response team members were applying oil-lifting chemicals to oiled rocks at Berkeley Marina, Nov. 21.
Photo by: U.S. Coast Guard photo/Petty Officer 2nd Class Andrew Kendrick
Coast Guard may gain authority to control vessel movement in fog.

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - In the aftermath of the oil spill that dumped 58,000 gallons of bunker fuel into San Francisco Bay on Nov. 7, the Coast Guard said it may consider restricting movement of ships in heavy fog - and some legislators are calling for granting the Coast Guard expanded powers in controlling the movement of ships.

Several members of Congress, including House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, were in San Francisco Nov. 19 questioning Coast Guard officials about their response to the Bay's worst oil spill in nearly two decades.

The House Subcommittee on Coast Guard and Maritime Transportation was meeting at the Presidio, and its chairman Rep. Elijah Cummings, said his goals were to figure out how the spill happened and assess the Coast Guard's performance.

Cummings said that he also wants to study the possibility of requiring double hulls on the fuel tanks of cargo ships (beginning Aug. 1, 2010, the MARPOL Convention will require double hulls around "bunker tanks" for newly built vessels engaged on international voyages) and the possibility of requiring the Coast Guard to more actively manage vessel traffic in waterways.

The Coast Guard's responses left him wanting, Cummings said.

Pelosi, who represents San Francisco, said she planned to ask the Department of Homeland Security's inspector general, Richard Skinner, to conduct his own investigation. That would be in addition to ongoing probes by the U. S. Attorney's office, the National Transportation Safety Board, California government agencies and Cummings' committee.

Coast Guard Capt. Jim McPherson said the Coast Guard's Vessel Traffic Service is designed to keep ships from colliding with each other and to provide advisory information. It's not like air traffic control, which takes direct control of an aircraft, McPherson told the Associated Press. "It's a really important distinction," he said.

The National Transportation Safety Board said that the VTS had radioed the Cosco Busan's pilot to question his course, but had not advised him the ship was in trouble.

The VTS questioned the ship's course and intentions three times prior to the collision, according to a federal official with knowledge of the investigation, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the ongoing investigation.

Then as the ship struggled through fog, about two minutes of silence passed between the Coast Guard's inquiries and when Capt. John Cota, the ship's pilot, reported he had struck a tower footing of the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge.

McPherson said it wasn't the agency's role to put the ship on a different course.

"We provide advisory assistance, but the captain and the pilot of the vessel are at all times in control of the vessel," McPherson said.

Asked about McPherson's comment, Michael Hansen, a spokesman for ship owner Regal Stone Ltd., said "The master and pilot make the decisions. At this point I'd have to agree with the Coast Guard. They were working under procedures and regulations in place at the time.

Sen. Dianne Feinstein called for granting the Coast Guard expanded powers in controlling the movement of ships.

"The Coast Guard should be able to control the direction and speed of ships when necessary," Feinstein said.

McPherson said that such a change would have to be made legislatively, and that the Coast Guard would welcome the opportunity to work with congressional staff to look at possibilities for making it safer to come into and out of ports.

"I think controls on ships in low visibility probably is something you could look at," the Coast Guard's commandant, Adm. Thad Allen, told the Associated Press in an interview.

"If we had said you can't leave until the fog clears, and that was 3 o'clock in the afternoon, looking back on it, that would be preferable to the millions of dollars (the ship's owners) are going to pay for response," Allen said.