Two Coasts -- Two Allisions
In a span of four days, a tanker struck the Ambrose Light Station on the East Coast and a container ship struck the San Francisco Bay Bridge on the West Coast. Though U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) investigations into both incidents were still ongoing when MarEx went online, weather may be a partial cause of both accidents.
At 2 a.m. Saturday, November 3, the Axel Spirit a 799-foot tanker operated by Teekay Shipping, hit the Ambrose Light Station in Lower New York Bay. The Station, an important navigation tool for all ships traversing the Port of New York and New Jersey, "suffered substantial damage to its legs, stanchion and the revolving light is bent and no longer rotating," according to an official USCG press release. A USCG Public Affairs Officer in New York told MarEx on Wednesday, November 7, that a Coast Guard Cutter Willow was brought in from Rhode Island to set up a temporary navigation aid about 300 yards from Staten Island while repairs are made to the Ambrose Light. No damages to the vessel, which was en route to the Chevron facility in Perth Amboy, New Jersey at the time of the incident, have yet been reported. Though the official cause of the accident will not be known until the conclusion of the ongoing investigation, severe weather caused by Tropical Storm Noel, including 20-25 knot winds and four-foot to five-foot seas, is suspected as a partial culprit.
Just four days later, on November 7, the container ship Cosco Busan struck the San Francisco Bay Bridge span "D" at 8:30 a.m. According to a USCG press release, "the vessel was south bound towards Anchorage 9 with a pilot onboard at the time of the allision." Reportedly, the ship was damaged on the forward left side and bunker fuel leaked from it. When MarEx went online, numerous beaches in the area had been closed (see the USCG press release here for more details) for "public health concerns" over the estimated 58,000 gallons of leaked bunker fuel, 8,000 gallons of which had been recovered as of 8:30 p.m. on the day of the accident. Soon after the incident, the vessel was moved to Anchorage 9 on its own power, leaking oil as it went, and San Francisco police and the USCG enforced a 100-foot safety zone around the fuel in the water. Though USCG pollution investigators and marine inspectors from Sector San Francisco have just begun investigating the cause of the incident, which will entail drug and alcohol testing the crew, it has been reported that "visibility was limited" due to fog when the accident occurred.
Check the USCG New York and USCG San Francisco Web Sites, www.uscgnewyork.com and www.uscgsanfrancisco.com, respectively, for the latest news on both investigations. USCG San Francisco recently released photos of the Cosco Busan as well.
**Photo Courtesy of USCG: SAN FRANCISCO (Nov. 7, 2007)- The motor vessel Cosco Busan, a 900-foot container carrier, allided with one of the towers of the San Francisco Bay Bridge Wednesday morning, prompting a response from the Coast Guard, CALTRANS, the city of San Francisco and several other state and local agencies. Coast Guard photo.