Cosco Busan owners lose ruling on spill damage

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by Bob Egelko
San Francisco Chronicle
February 5, 2010

A new federal court ruling could make the owners of the Cosco Busan solely responsible for the damage to waters, wildlife and commerce caused in 2007 when the ship slammed into the Bay Bridge and spilled 53,000 gallons of fuel oil into San Francisco Bay.

Vessel owners, required by state law to hire licensed pilots to navigate the bay, are also bound by another California law that makes them liable for any harm caused by the pilot's negligence, U.S. District Judge Samuel Conti said in a Jan. 27 ruling.

The case involved a dispute more than $315,000 in legal defense costs for the pilot, Capt. John Cota, who pleaded guilty to federal pollution charges and was sentenced to 10 months in prison. But the law Conti upheld also applies to multiple lawsuits for damage caused by the Cosco Busan.

The 901-foot container ship struck a tower of the bridge west of Yerba Buena Island in a thick morning fog on Nov. 7, 2007. The oil reached the bay shoreline and ocean beaches in Marin and San Mateo counties and killed more than 2,400 birds.

Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/02/05/BA591BSNA7.DTL