Maritime, +3
Maritime
MAN Ferrostaal v. M/V Akili: Steel Pipe Cargo Damage and Improper Stowage
MAN Ferrostaal v. M/V Akili examines steel pipe cargo damage, improper stowage, dunnage failures, marine survey evidence, and vessel liability.
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Maritime
10 min read
Areas of Expertise :
Maritime, Marine Engineering, Oil Spill, Human Factors, Environmental Science
Published Date:
Last Modified Date:
Jurisdiction:
Federal. Ninth Circuit
On November 7, 2007, the 901-foot M/V Cosco Busan left the Port of Oakland in dense fog on a voyage to South Korea. About 23 minutes after departure, the container ship struck the fendering system surrounding the Delta Tower of the San Francisco–Oakland Bay Bridge. The allision breached two port fuel tanks and discharged 53,569 gallons of Intermediate Fuel Oil 380 into San Francisco Bay. Oil spread through the central Bay and along parts of the outer coast, leading to beach and fishery closures and damage to birds, Pacific herring, shoreline habitat, and recreational resources. Trustee agencies estimated that 6,849 birds died, 3,367 acres of shoreline habitat were oiled, 14 to 29 percent of the 2007–2008 herring spawn was lost, and 1,079,900 recreational user-days were lost.
The spill resulted in an investigation by the National Transportation Safety Board, federal prosecutions, admiralty litigation, government claims, and a natural resource damage assessment. The NTSB attributed the unsafe transit to pilot John Joseph Cota’s degraded cognitive performance from impairing prescription medications, an incomplete master–pilot exchange, ineffective bridge communication, and inadequate oversight by the vessel’s master. Cota received a 10-month prison sentence. Vessel operator Fleet Management Ltd. was ordered to pay $10 million and comply with a court-supervised training and auditing program. A separate $44.4 million civil settlement with Fleet Management and vessel owner Regal Stone Limited resolved the remaining government claims and allocated $32.3 million for restoration and related oversight.
The Cosco Busan departed its Oakland berth at approximately 8:07 a.m., with Cota serving as the California-licensed bar pilot. At approximately 8:30 a.m., the vessel approached the Delta–Echo span in visibility of less than one-half nautical mile. It struck the Delta Tower fendering system, cutting a gash approximately 212 feet long, 10 feet high, and 8 feet deep into its port side. The impact breached the Nos. 3 and 4 port fuel tanks and released heavy bunker fuel into the Bay. No one aboard was physically injured, but federal and state agencies began cleanup operations and separate investigations into the vessel’s navigation, management, and spill response.
The United States filed an admiralty action in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California on November 30, 2007. The named defendants included the vessel, Regal Stone, Fleet Management, and Cota. The federal complaint sought removal costs, natural resource damages, statutory penalties, and other relief under the Oil Pollution Act, Clean Water Act, National Marine Sanctuaries Act, and Park System Resource Protection Act. On December 10, the City and County of San Francisco filed a separate action in California. The City of Richmond later joined the proceedings as trustee agencies continued to measure damage to wildlife, habitat, fisheries, and recreational use.
Regal Stone and Fleet Management asked the district court to dismiss or stay the federal case, relying in part on the Oil Pollution Act’s claim-presentation requirements. In United States v. M/V Cosco Busan, 557 F. Supp. 2d 1058 (N.D. Cal. 2008), the court held that the United States could pursue removal costs without first presenting those claims to the responsible party. The court also allowed the related damages claims to remain in the same action. It further ruled that the Oil Pollution Act did not eliminate claims available to the government under other federal statutes.
California agencies filed a state-court complaint on January 6, 2009, seeking natural resource damages, response costs, civil liability, and penalties under state and federal law. On February 18, the NTSB adopted its marine accident report. The agency found that Cota’s degraded cognitive performance, the absence of a comprehensive predeparture master–pilot exchange, ineffective communication between the pilot and master, and the master’s inadequate oversight caused the allision. The NTSB also identified Fleet Management’s insufficient crew training and the Coast Guard’s deficient medical oversight of Cota as contributing factors. Postaccident testing showed that the vessel’s propulsion, steering, radar, and electronic navigation systems did not cause or contribute to the event.
Cota pleaded guilty on March 6, 2009, to negligently causing the oil discharge and causing the deaths of protected migratory birds. As part of the plea, he acknowledged that he did not adequately discuss the intended route with the vessel’s master and bridge crew. He also admitted failures involving radar use, recognition of chart symbols marking the Delta Tower, and confirmation of the ship’s position with the navigation resources available on the bridge. On July 17, U.S. District Judge Susan Illston sentenced Cota to 10 months in prison, followed by one year of supervised release and 200 hours of community service.
Cotchett, Pitre & McCarthy LLP retained Dr. Jeffrey Short during this period to provide advice and testimony on behalf of fishing-industry plaintiffs. His disclosed assignment concerned injuries that those plaintiffs attributed to the Cosco Busan oil spill. The engagement continued through April 2011 while the spill-related proceedings were underway.
Fleet Management pleaded guilty on August 13, 2009, to negligently causing the oil discharge and to obstruction and false-statement offenses involving altered vessel records. The company admitted that personnel prepared a false berth-to-berth passage plan after the allision. It also acknowledged that the navigational chart was changed to include position fixes that had not been recorded during the voyage. On February 19, 2010, the court ordered Fleet Management to pay $10 million, including $2 million for marine environmental projects in San Francisco Bay. The sentence also imposed a compliance program covering master training, shipboard navigation instruction, voyage planning, and audits of company vessels calling at U.S. ports.
Federal, state, and local government parties lodged a proposed consent decree on September 19, 2011, to resolve their remaining claims against Regal Stone and Fleet Management. Under the proposed agreement, the companies would pay $44.4 million for natural resource damages, statutory penalties, and unreimbursed response and assessment costs. On September 27, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service published notice of the draft Damage Assessment and Restoration Plan/Environmental Assessment. The proposed allocation included $32.3 million for restoration and oversight involving birds, shoreline habitat, fish, eelgrass, lost recreational use, planning, and administration. The proposed consent decree and restoration plan were then submitted to public comment and judicial review.
The district court entered the consent decree as a final judgment in the coordinated federal action on January 27, 2012. The trustee agencies completed the Final Damage Assessment and Restoration Plan/Environmental Assessment in February and announced the final plan in March. The plan selected 12 restoration projects and established a process for funding additional projects associated with lost recreational use. The selected work included projects for bird nesting and roosting areas, eelgrass, native oysters, rockweed, beaches, salt marshes, mudflats, and shoreline access.
Court:
United States District Court for the Northern District of California
Case Name:
United States v. M/V Cosco Busan
Marine Investigation
Ship Handling
Navigation
Vessel Operations
Marine Ecosystem
Environmental Contamination
Environmental Remediation
CWA Clean Water Act
On November 7, 2007, the 901-foot M/V Cosco Busan left the Port of Oakland in dense fog on a voyage to South Korea. About 23 minutes after departure, the container ship struck the fendering system surrounding the Delta Tower of the San Francisco–Oakland Bay Bridge. The allision breached two port fuel tanks and discharged 53,569 gallons of Intermediate Fuel Oil 380 into San Francisco Bay. Oil spread through the central Bay and along parts of the outer coast, leading to beach and fishery closures and damage to birds, Pacific herring, shoreline habitat, and recreational resources. Trustee agencies estimated that 6,849 birds died, 3,367 acres of shoreline habitat were oiled, 14 to 29 percent of the 2007–2008 herring spawn was lost, and 1,079,900 recreational user-days were lost.
The spill resulted in an investigation by the National Transportation Safety Board, federal prosecutions, admiralty litigation, government claims, and a natural resource damage assessment. The NTSB attributed the unsafe transit to pilot John Joseph Cota’s degraded cognitive performance from impairing prescription medications, an incomplete master–pilot exchange, ineffective bridge communication, and inadequate oversight by the vessel’s master. Cota received a 10-month prison sentence. Vessel operator Fleet Management Ltd. was ordered to pay $10 million and comply with a court-supervised training and auditing program. A separate $44.4 million civil settlement with Fleet Management and vessel owner Regal Stone Limited resolved the remaining government claims and allocated $32.3 million for restoration and related oversight.
The Cosco Busan departed its Oakland berth at approximately 8:07 a.m., with Cota serving as the California-licensed bar pilot. At approximately 8:30 a.m., the vessel approached the Delta–Echo span in visibility of less than one-half nautical mile. It struck the Delta Tower fendering system, cutting a gash approximately 212 feet long, 10 feet high, and 8 feet deep into its port side. The impact breached the Nos. 3 and 4 port fuel tanks and released heavy bunker fuel into the Bay. No one aboard was physically injured, but federal and state agencies began cleanup operations and separate investigations into the vessel’s navigation, management, and spill response.
The United States filed an admiralty action in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California on November 30, 2007. The named defendants included the vessel, Regal Stone, Fleet Management, and Cota. The federal complaint sought removal costs, natural resource damages, statutory penalties, and other relief under the Oil Pollution Act, Clean Water Act, National Marine Sanctuaries Act, and Park System Resource Protection Act. On December 10, the City and County of San Francisco filed a separate action in California. The City of Richmond later joined the proceedings as trustee agencies continued to measure damage to wildlife, habitat, fisheries, and recreational use.
Regal Stone and Fleet Management asked the district court to dismiss or stay the federal case, relying in part on the Oil Pollution Act’s claim-presentation requirements. In United States v. M/V Cosco Busan, 557 F. Supp. 2d 1058 (N.D. Cal. 2008), the court held that the United States could pursue removal costs without first presenting those claims to the responsible party. The court also allowed the related damages claims to remain in the same action. It further ruled that the Oil Pollution Act did not eliminate claims available to the government under other federal statutes.
California agencies filed a state-court complaint on January 6, 2009, seeking natural resource damages, response costs, civil liability, and penalties under state and federal law. On February 18, the NTSB adopted its marine accident report. The agency found that Cota’s degraded cognitive performance, the absence of a comprehensive predeparture master–pilot exchange, ineffective communication between the pilot and master, and the master’s inadequate oversight caused the allision. The NTSB also identified Fleet Management’s insufficient crew training and the Coast Guard’s deficient medical oversight of Cota as contributing factors. Postaccident testing showed that the vessel’s propulsion, steering, radar, and electronic navigation systems did not cause or contribute to the event.
Cota pleaded guilty on March 6, 2009, to negligently causing the oil discharge and causing the deaths of protected migratory birds. As part of the plea, he acknowledged that he did not adequately discuss the intended route with the vessel’s master and bridge crew. He also admitted failures involving radar use, recognition of chart symbols marking the Delta Tower, and confirmation of the ship’s position with the navigation resources available on the bridge. On July 17, U.S. District Judge Susan Illston sentenced Cota to 10 months in prison, followed by one year of supervised release and 200 hours of community service.
Cotchett, Pitre & McCarthy LLP retained Dr. Jeffrey Short during this period to provide advice and testimony on behalf of fishing-industry plaintiffs. His disclosed assignment concerned injuries that those plaintiffs attributed to the Cosco Busan oil spill. The engagement continued through April 2011 while the spill-related proceedings were underway.
Fleet Management pleaded guilty on August 13, 2009, to negligently causing the oil discharge and to obstruction and false-statement offenses involving altered vessel records. The company admitted that personnel prepared a false berth-to-berth passage plan after the allision. It also acknowledged that the navigational chart was changed to include position fixes that had not been recorded during the voyage. On February 19, 2010, the court ordered Fleet Management to pay $10 million, including $2 million for marine environmental projects in San Francisco Bay. The sentence also imposed a compliance program covering master training, shipboard navigation instruction, voyage planning, and audits of company vessels calling at U.S. ports.
Federal, state, and local government parties lodged a proposed consent decree on September 19, 2011, to resolve their remaining claims against Regal Stone and Fleet Management. Under the proposed agreement, the companies would pay $44.4 million for natural resource damages, statutory penalties, and unreimbursed response and assessment costs. On September 27, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service published notice of the draft Damage Assessment and Restoration Plan/Environmental Assessment. The proposed allocation included $32.3 million for restoration and oversight involving birds, shoreline habitat, fish, eelgrass, lost recreational use, planning, and administration. The proposed consent decree and restoration plan were then submitted to public comment and judicial review.
The district court entered the consent decree as a final judgment in the coordinated federal action on January 27, 2012. The trustee agencies completed the Final Damage Assessment and Restoration Plan/Environmental Assessment in February and announced the final plan in March. The plan selected 12 restoration projects and established a process for funding additional projects associated with lost recreational use. The selected work included projects for bird nesting and roosting areas, eelgrass, native oysters, rockweed, beaches, salt marshes, mudflats, and shoreline access.
According to Dr. Jeffrey Short’s published biography, Cotchett, Pitre & McCarthy LLP retained him from April 2009 through April 2011 to provide advice and testimony on behalf of fishing-industry plaintiffs. His work concerned injuries that those plaintiffs attributed to the Cosco Busan oil spill.
Human factors analysis can address communication among the pilot, master, and bridge team, as well as supervision, workload, decision-making, and the effects of medication-related impairment.
A marine engineering review can evaluate the condition and operation of propulsion machinery, steering gear, radar interfaces, electronic navigation equipment, and vessel-control systems. This type of analysis can distinguish equipment performance from decisions made by the pilot and bridge crew.
Environmental experts can cover spill reporting, containment, shoreline cleanup, wildlife losses, habitat recovery, fishery effects, and lost recreational use. The work can include field sampling, population estimates, response-plan analysis, restoration costs, and calculations of losses claimed by government agencies or private parties.
In maritime terminology, an allision occurs when a moving vessel strikes a stationary object. Because the Cosco Busan struck a fixed part of the Bay Bridge rather than another moving vessel, investigation reports and court records refer to the event as an allision.
The Coast Guard’s final estimate placed the discharge at 53,569 gallons of Intermediate Fuel Oil 380. Some summaries, including the NTSB report, use a rounded figure of approximately 53,500 gallons. These figures describe the same discharge rather than separate releases.
The electronic chart system aboard the Cosco Busan was a navigation aid, but it was not a certified Electronic Chart Display and Information System that could replace required paper charts. The bridge team was therefore required to use the vessel’s official paper charts as the primary charting system. Investigators found that the electronic and paper navigation resources available on the bridge were not used effectively to verify the vessel’s position.
Cota’s sentence, Fleet Management’s $10 million payment, and the later $44.4 million civil settlement were separate outcomes. Cota’s case addressed his conduct as the pilot. Fleet Management’s $10 million sentence covered the negligent discharge, altered records, environmental projects, and compliance requirements. The $44.4 million consent decree resolved remaining civil claims against Fleet Management and Regal Stone for natural resource damages, penalties, and specified government costs.
The natural resource damage assessment measured lost recreation in user-days rather than treating each loss as a separately documented trip. Trustee agencies estimated that the spill caused the loss of 1,079,900 recreational user-days through beach closures, fishery restrictions, visible oil, cleanup activity, and reduced access to affected shoreline areas. The restoration allocation included funding for projects intended to compensate the public for those lost uses.
Entry of the consent decree on January 27, 2012, resolved the government civil claims against Regal Stone and Fleet Management covered by the agreement and moved the restoration component into the trustee program. Projects included beach work at Muir Beach and Albany Beach, salt-marsh and mudflat restoration at Aramburu Island, eelgrass and native-oyster work within the Bay, and bird habitat projects at Berkeley Pier, Tule Lake, the Farallon Islands, and the South Bay Salt Ponds. Fleet Management was also subject to the court-supervised navigation-training, voyage-planning, and company-auditing requirements imposed at sentencing.
When and where did the Cosco Busan oil spill occur?
The spill occurred on November 7, 2007, after the M/V Cosco Busan struck the Delta Tower fendering system of the San Francisco–Oakland Bay Bridge. The vessel had departed its berth at the Port of Oakland approximately 23 minutes earlier.
What caused the Cosco Busan Bay Bridge allision?
The NTSB attributed the allision to Cota’s degraded cognitive performance from impairing prescription medications, an incomplete master–pilot exchange, ineffective communication between the pilot and master, and inadequate oversight by the master. Insufficient crew training and deficiencies in Coast Guard medical oversight were identified as contributing factors.
Did a mechanical or navigation-equipment failure cause the accident?
No. Postaccident testing showed that the steering, propulsion, radar, electronic chart, and voyage management systems were operational. The NTSB determined that these systems did not cause or contribute to the allision.
What did the federal court decide about the Oil Pollution Act claims?
In May 2008, the district court ruled that the United States could pursue removal costs without first presenting those claims to the responsible party. The court also allowed related damages claims to continue and found that the Oil Pollution Act did not displace claims available under other federal statutes.
How were the Cosco Busan legal claims resolved?
Cota and Fleet Management entered separate guilty pleas and received separate sentences. The government’s remaining civil claims against Fleet Management and Regal Stone were resolved through the $44.4 million consent decree entered in January 2012. The trustee agencies later implemented the final restoration plan using the funds allocated for environmental and recreational projects.
According to Dr. Jeffrey Short’s published biography, Cotchett, Pitre & McCarthy LLP retained him from April 2009 through April 2011 to provide advice and testimony on behalf of fishing-industry plaintiffs. His work concerned injuries that those plaintiffs attributed to the Cosco Busan oil spill.
Human factors analysis can address communication among the pilot, master, and bridge team, as well as supervision, workload, decision-making, and the effects of medication-related impairment.
A marine engineering review can evaluate the condition and operation of propulsion machinery, steering gear, radar interfaces, electronic navigation equipment, and vessel-control systems. This type of analysis can distinguish equipment performance from decisions made by the pilot and bridge crew.
Environmental experts can cover spill reporting, containment, shoreline cleanup, wildlife losses, habitat recovery, fishery effects, and lost recreational use. The work can include field sampling, population estimates, response-plan analysis, restoration costs, and calculations of losses claimed by government agencies or private parties.
In maritime terminology, an allision occurs when a moving vessel strikes a stationary object. Because the Cosco Busan struck a fixed part of the Bay Bridge rather than another moving vessel, investigation reports and court records refer to the event as an allision.
The Coast Guard’s final estimate placed the discharge at 53,569 gallons of Intermediate Fuel Oil 380. Some summaries, including the NTSB report, use a rounded figure of approximately 53,500 gallons. These figures describe the same discharge rather than separate releases.
The electronic chart system aboard the Cosco Busan was a navigation aid, but it was not a certified Electronic Chart Display and Information System that could replace required paper charts. The bridge team was therefore required to use the vessel’s official paper charts as the primary charting system. Investigators found that the electronic and paper navigation resources available on the bridge were not used effectively to verify the vessel’s position.
Cota’s sentence, Fleet Management’s $10 million payment, and the later $44.4 million civil settlement were separate outcomes. Cota’s case addressed his conduct as the pilot. Fleet Management’s $10 million sentence covered the negligent discharge, altered records, environmental projects, and compliance requirements. The $44.4 million consent decree resolved remaining civil claims against Fleet Management and Regal Stone for natural resource damages, penalties, and specified government costs.
The natural resource damage assessment measured lost recreation in user-days rather than treating each loss as a separately documented trip. Trustee agencies estimated that the spill caused the loss of 1,079,900 recreational user-days through beach closures, fishery restrictions, visible oil, cleanup activity, and reduced access to affected shoreline areas. The restoration allocation included funding for projects intended to compensate the public for those lost uses.
Entry of the consent decree on January 27, 2012, resolved the government civil claims against Regal Stone and Fleet Management covered by the agreement and moved the restoration component into the trustee program. Projects included beach work at Muir Beach and Albany Beach, salt-marsh and mudflat restoration at Aramburu Island, eelgrass and native-oyster work within the Bay, and bird habitat projects at Berkeley Pier, Tule Lake, the Farallon Islands, and the South Bay Salt Ponds. Fleet Management was also subject to the court-supervised navigation-training, voyage-planning, and company-auditing requirements imposed at sentencing.
When and where did the Cosco Busan oil spill occur?
The spill occurred on November 7, 2007, after the M/V Cosco Busan struck the Delta Tower fendering system of the San Francisco–Oakland Bay Bridge. The vessel had departed its berth at the Port of Oakland approximately 23 minutes earlier.
What caused the Cosco Busan Bay Bridge allision?
The NTSB attributed the allision to Cota’s degraded cognitive performance from impairing prescription medications, an incomplete master–pilot exchange, ineffective communication between the pilot and master, and inadequate oversight by the master. Insufficient crew training and deficiencies in Coast Guard medical oversight were identified as contributing factors.
Did a mechanical or navigation-equipment failure cause the accident?
No. Postaccident testing showed that the steering, propulsion, radar, electronic chart, and voyage management systems were operational. The NTSB determined that these systems did not cause or contribute to the allision.
What did the federal court decide about the Oil Pollution Act claims?
In May 2008, the district court ruled that the United States could pursue removal costs without first presenting those claims to the responsible party. The court also allowed related damages claims to continue and found that the Oil Pollution Act did not displace claims available under other federal statutes.
How were the Cosco Busan legal claims resolved?
Cota and Fleet Management entered separate guilty pleas and received separate sentences. The government’s remaining civil claims against Fleet Management and Regal Stone were resolved through the $44.4 million consent decree entered in January 2012. The trustee agencies later implemented the final restoration plan using the funds allocated for environmental and recreational projects.
Marine Investigation
Ship Handling
Navigation
Vessel Operations
Marine Ecosystem
Environmental Contamination
Environmental Remediation
CWA Clean Water Act
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