- Investigators believe a 1,200-foot cargo ship dragging anchor in rough seas caught an underwater oil pipeline.
- And pulled it across the seafloor, months before a leak from the line fouled the Southern California coastline with crude.
Recent news source published in the NPR and Seatrade-Maritime states that MSC containership boarded by US California pipeline spill investigators.
Panama-registered MSC DANIT
A team of federal investigators trying to chase down the cause of the spill boarded the Panama-registered MSC DANIT just hours after the massive ship arrived this weekend off the Port of Long Beach, the same area where the leak was discovered in early October.
During a prior visit by the ship during a heavy storm in January, investigators believe its anchor dragged for an unknown distance before striking the 16-inch steel pipe, Coast Guard Lt. j.g. SondraKay Kneen said Sunday.
The impact would have knocked an inch-thick concrete casing off the pipe and pulled it more than 100 feet, bending but not breaking the line, Kneen said.
Whether the impact caused the October leak
Still undetermined is whether the impact caused the October leak, or if the line was hit by something else at a later date or failed due to a pre-existing problem, Kneen said.
“We’re still looking at multiple vessels and scenarios,” she said.
The Coast Guard on Saturday designated the owner and operator as parties of interest in its investigation into the spill, estimated to have released about 25,000 gallons of crude into the water, killing birds, fish and mammals.
The accident just a few miles off Huntington Beach in Orange County fouled beaches and wetlands and led to temporary closures for cleanup work .
While not as bad as initially feared, it has reignited the debate over offshore drilling in federal waters in the Pacific, where hundreds of miles of pipelines were installed decades ago.
MSC representatives did not immediately respond
The DANIT’s operator, MSC Mediterranean Shipping Company, is headquartered in Switzerland and has a fleet of 600 vessels and more than 100,000 workers, according to the company.
MSC representatives did not immediately respond to email messages seeking comment. A security guard reached by telephone at the company’s headquarters in Geneva said it was closed until Monday.
The vessel’s owner, identified by the Coast Guard as Dordellas Finance Corporation, could not be reached for comment.
The DANIT arrived in Long Beach
The DANIT arrived in Long Beach this weekend after voyaging from China, according to marine traffic monitoring websites.
The investigation into what caused the spill could lead to criminal charges or civil penalties, but none have been announced yet, and Kneen said the probe could continue for months.
Attorneys for MSC and Dordellas will have the chance to examine and cross-examine the government’s witnesses in the case and also to call their own witnesses, according to the Coast Guard. The investigation also includes the National Transportation Safety Board and other agencies.
Kneen declined to say if any damage was found to an anchor on the DANIT after a team of at least five investigators spent much of Saturday aboard the ship.
Two other vessels previously boarded by investigators
At least two other vessels were previously boarded by investigators, who are examining logs kept by the ships’ captains, officers and engineers and voyage data recorders — equivalent to the so-called black box on airplanes.
In response to the new focus on the DANIT, the Houston-based owner of the damaged pipeline, Amplify Energy, thanked the Coast Guard for its continued work on the case.
Amplify representatives have not directly responded to questions about an hourslong delay between an alarm indicating a potential problem with the pipeline and the company reporting the leak to federal authorities.
What did the chief investigation officer say?
US Coast Guard Lt. Cmdr. Braden Rostad, Chief of Investigations, Sector Los Angeles-Long Beach said that it had determined that the Panama-flag MSC Danit anchor-dragging incident during a heavy weather event that impacted the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach on 25 January.
“The anchor-dragging incident occurred in close proximity to a subsea pipeline, which was subsequently discovered to be the source of the Orange County oil spill on October 2, 2021,” USCG said.
US Coast Guard and National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) marine casualty investigators boarded the MSC Danit in the Port of Long Beach on Saturday.
MSC as the operators of the MSC Danit and Dordellas Finance Corporation, the owner of the vessel have been named as parties in interest to the marine casualty investigation under US federal regulations.
“The anchor-dragging incident occurred in close proximity to a subsea pipeline, which was subsequently discovered to be the source of the Orange County oil spill on October 2, 2021,” USCG said.
Port of Long Beach
US Coast Guard and National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) marine casualty investigators boarded the MSC Danit in the Port of Long Beach on Saturday.
MSC as the operators of the MSC Danit and Dordellas Finance Corporation, the owner of the vessel have been named as parties in interest to the marine casualty investigation under US federal regulations.
“The party in interest designations provide the owner and operator of the MSC Danit the opportunity to be represented by counsel, to examine and cross-examine witnesses, and to call witnesses who are relevant to the investigation,” the USCG said.
While the MSC Danit has been named investigators continue to comb through marine traffic data over an extended period prior to the October spill, and more vessels are being investigated.
“The Coast Guard marine casualty investigation into the Orange County oil pipeline major marine casualty remains ongoing. Multiple pipeline scenarios and additional vessels of interest continue to be investigated.”
The damage to the pipeline has killed sea life, polluted beaches, and closed down fishing in one of the world’s most litigious regions, causing serious concern for P&I insurers over potential liability.
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Source: NPR & Seatrade-maritime
