Oil Spill - Pro Mistake?

[rebel heart]

Could be worse; a Russian boat just dumped over half a million gallons into the Black Sea. Russian oil tanker breaks in two - CNN.com

[cooper]

The Russians do it better !! They just snapped a tanker in half.....

[Paul Elliott]

Originally Posted by David M

VTS runs recordings of all their radar images 24/7. You can be sure that the tapes which show the collision are under lock and key right now. AIS is recorded as well.

David, thanks for the info and commentary. So much of the news coverage is political sound-bites, it's good to hear some actual details (speculation to be sure, but at least it's informed speculation!).

Not too long ago I managed to arrange an invitation to visit the San Francisco VTS facility on Yerba Buena Island. This is a very impressive place, and I agree they are going to have all the radar, AIS, and radio traffic archived. They are *very* optimistic about the usefulness of AIS, and are glad to see it being adopted by the recreational boating community.

[scotte]

Latitude 38's writeup: Latitude 38 - The West's Premier Sailing & Marine Magazine

and an update and more pix at Latitude 38 - The West's Premier Sailing & Marine Magazine

[markpj23]

Originally Posted by David M

These modern container ships use an internal combustion engine than can burn more than one fuel. When the engines are cold, diesel is used to start them. In port they will also use diesel because it burns cleaner. Once out to sea they shift over to Bunker-C because although it is dirtier, it is cheaper than diesel. Diesel is also used aboard for the gensets. Bunker-C is one grade above road tar in the catalytic cracker. When it is cold it is the consistency of cold molasses and must be warmed just to get it through the pipes.

Well well, learned something new today!

The Most Powerful Diesel Engine in the World

Man that's a crankcase explosion away from dirty drawers eh?

[David M]

I spoke with one of the bar pilots today who lives near by and is an acquaintance of mine and is also a fellow graduate of Cal Maritime. He said he knows what happened but could not discuss it. It is something very basic and will be shocker when it is made public. In no way did he give me any details, or hints or innuendos of what happened.

He did not know that the AIS/Radar/Chart overlay recording of the accident was available on the internet.

Interestingly, the Coast Guard has no authority over the Bar Pilots because they sail on a State issued license. The Pilots all have federal Masters licenses but they are not sailing on them when piloting a ship.

[scotte]

This is interesting... There's some new information in the following article. In a nutshell, the radar had failed and they were relying purely on chartplotter.

Pilot says Cosco Busan's captain directed vessel into bridge

[Chuteman]

Updates:
Pilot in bay spill had past incidents - Environment - MSNBC.com

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/10/wa...n/10spill.html

Court Charges Ship Pilot With Lying About Prescription Drug Use

[David M]

Pretty soon the official Coast Guard report will be published which will put an end to the speculation from the media as to what actually happened.