Petaluma pilot's lawyer blames ship's crew

The attorney for the Petaluma ship pilot who was guiding the Cosco Busan when it struck the Bay Bridge said an inexperienced crew was to blame.

"They may not have been up on the instrumentation on board," said attorney John Meadows, who represents Capt. John Cota. "The radar was not performing properly shortly before the collision."

Meadows' comments came after a news conference where Coast Guard officials said a criminal investigation was under way regarding the spill of 58,000 gallons of heavy fuel into the bay. He contradicted previous Coast Guard statements that cited human error, not mechanical failure on the South Korea-bound container ship that hit a bridge support in heavy fog Wednesday morning.

As a bar pilot, Cota boarded the ship to provide expertise on navigating bay waters.

Cota will be cleared of any wrong doing when the National Transportation Safety Board releases its final report, Meadows said. That investigation could take as much as a year.

Cota plans to release a personal statement today or perhaps Tuesday, Meadows said.

"We are waiting for the ship records," he said.

The ship's previous crew was relieved by a new crew Oct. 30, Meadows said, adding that the new crew might not have been prepared.You can reach Staff Writer Nathan Halverson at 521-5494 or nathan.halverson@pressdemocrat.com.