Cosco Busan Pilot Sues USCG Over License Renewal
John Cota, the infamous San Francisco Bay bar pilot who was found responsible for the 2007 Cosco Busan oil spill, has filed a lawsuit against the U.S. Coast Guard to get his mariner’s license back. Cota claims that officials gave a series of baseless reasons for refusing to renew his credentials after the 2007 disaster.
The 65-year-old was found to be taking up to 19 prescription medications when his container ship allided with a span of the Bay Bridge. The investigation into the incident discovered that Cota did not reveal all of his medical conditions to the USCG. Additionally, his use of the medications resulted in degraded cognitive performance at the time of the accident.
According to the San Francisco Chronicle, Cota voluntarily surrendered his state-issued bar pilot's license in 2008 in the face of efforts to revoke it by the Board of Pilot Commissioners. He also previously gave up his federally issued mariner officer license in December 2007.
Cota's suit, filed in federal court in California, states that the U.S. Coast Guard deceived him into surrendering his credentials in a fake voluntary agreement, and then found phony reasons not to renew them. Cota passed post-accident medical examinations, according to the lawsuit, but Coast Guard authorities insisted he was not fit to pilot a vessel because of his use of a stimulant for his sleep apnea.
Legal representatives for the pilot ensure that he is definitely still capable of piloting a ship, and wants to be active. The defense noted that heavy fog the morning of the Cosco Busan spill and communications interruptions with the crew is largely to blame for the disaster. Moreover, Cota’s lawyer argues that the Coast Guard was put under immense political pressure to keep him off the water.
Tell us what you think:
Should John Cota's bar pilot license reinstated? VOTE NOW
RELATED ARTICLES: