Featured Stories: May 8, 2013
Baykeeper’s advocacy helped win new rules to reduce the risk of oil spills in San Francisco Bay by keeping large outbound ships from passing under the Bay Bridge in heavy fog.The rules were adopted by the San Francisco Harbor Safety Committee February 14 and the Coast Guard announced that they were in effect immediately. Oil tankers, cargo ships and other large vessels are now prohibited from sailing out of the Bay when visibility is less than a half mile.
Bay Crossings Column: Mar 1, 2013
When an oil tanker hit one of the Bay Bridge towers on a foggy morning in early January, it was a wake-up call for everyone who cares about San Francisco Bay. The collision between the tanker, the Overseas Reymar, and the bridge could have led to a real disaster.
BK In The News: Feb 25, 2013
SAN FRANCISCO -- Hoping to reduce the risk of major oil spills in San Francisco Bay, the Coast Guard and other top shipping officials Thursday passed new rules to limit cargo ships, oil tankers and other large vessels from sailing near the Bay Bridge in heavy fog. . . Deb Self, executive director of the environmental group Baykeeper, praised the decision. "I'm very pleased,'' she said. "It should help reduce the risk of oil spills."
Blog Post: Feb 15, 2013
Baykeeper’s advocacy helped win new rules to reduce the risk of oil spills in San Francisco Bay by keeping large outbound ships from passing under the Bay Bridge in heavy fog.The rules were adopted by the San Francisco Harbor Safety Committee February 14 and the Coast Guard announced that they were in effect immediately. Oil tankers, cargo ships and other large vessels are now prohibited from sailing out of the Bay when visibility is less than a half mile.
BK In The News: Feb 14, 2013
SAN FRANCISCO -- Hoping to reduce the risk of major oil spills in San Francisco Bay, the Coast Guard and other top shipping officials Thursday passed new rules to limit cargo ships, oil tankers and other large vessels from sailing near the Bay Bridge in heavy fog. . . Deb Self, executive director of Baykeeper, praised the decision. "I'm very pleased,'' she said. "It should help reduce the risk of oil spills."
BK In The News: Feb 12, 2013
The pilot who crashed the Cosco Busan cargo ship into the Bay Bridge in 2007, causing the worst oil spill in the bay in two decades, has sued the U.S. Coast Guard in an effort to regain his mariner's license so he can sail again. . . ."He's shown that he didn't have the medical fitness or sound judgment to be sailing ships," said Deb Self, executive director of Baykeeper, a San Francisco nonprofit. "I don't think the bay can afford second chances."
BK In The News: Jan 11, 2013
Three days after a 752-foot oil tanker sideswiped a tower of the Bay Bridge under foggy conditions, the top Coast Guard official in the Bay Area on Thursday called for a reconsideration of rules that allow large ships to sail in fog near the Bay Bridge.The request by Capt. Cynthia Stowe to the San Francisco Bay Harbor Safety Committee follows a report Wednesday by the Bay Area News Group that the Coast Guard and other officials in 2008 exempted the Bay Bridge from a list of nine risky areas where ship captains are told not to sail when visibility is less than half a mile.
BK In The News: Jan 9, 2013
After the cargo ship Cosco Busan sailed through heavy fog and hit a tower of the Bay Bridge five years ago, spilling 53,000 gallons of bunker fuel, the Coast Guard and shipping officials wrote new rules to limit large ships from sailing in risky areas of San Francisco Bay when visibility is less than a half mile.But they left out one key risk: the Bay Bridge itself.
Blog Post: Jan 8, 2013
When an oil tanker hit the Bay Bridge Monday morning, no oil got into the Bay, according to the Coast Guard and other agencies investigating the collision. I immediately went to the scene in the Baykeeper boat to observe the situation, along with Baykeeper Program Director Jason Flanders, who took these photos. The tanker, the Overseas Reymar, damaged the bridge tower’s protective barrier, as shown in the photo at right.
BK In The News: Jan 8, 2013
A nonprofit environmental group is seeking to close a loophole in best maritime practices, a day after an oil tanker nicked the base of the Bay Bridge.Deb Self, executive director of San Francisco Baykeeper, noted that the Bay Bridge is not on a list of nine "critical maneuvering areas," where industry standards advise that large vessels greater than 1,600 tons should not be when the visibility is less than half a mile.
