A Petaluma captain in charge of guiding the Cosco Busan out of San Francisco Bay in 2007 will make history Friday when he’s sentenced to prison time for negligently causing an accident that dumped thousands of gallons of fuel into the water.
Cota, 61, faces two to 10 months in federal prison under a deal in which he pleaded guilty to misdemeanor charges that he negligently caused an oil spill that killed protected birds and polluted waterways. He will also be fined.
The accident occurred in heavy morning fog Nov. 7, 2007, after Cota became disoriented while navigating the South Korea-bound container ship out of the Port of Oakland.
Cota stopped using the ship’s radar, which appeared to him to become distorted, and he relied instead on an electronic map, National Transportation Safety Board investigators found.
But Cota misinterpreted the meaning of two triangles on the map. He understood them to mark the passage area under the Bay Bridge.
Investigators found that the radar was working properly and they blamed Cota’s confusion on his use of mind-altering prescription drugs, though a urine sample taken after the accident was destroyed without being tested.
Cota’s attorney maintains that there’s no evidence that his client was affected by drugs at the time of the accident.
Cota did manage to avoid a direct hit on the bridge tower, but the ship scraped against a protective fender that sliced open two fuel tanks and led to a 53,500-gallon spill.
In a court filing that asks U.S. District Judge Susan Illston to sentence Cota to the minimum term allowed under the plea deal — two months — his attorney said the shipping company, its crew and the Coast Guard share responsibility for the accident.
“Captain Cota’s life as he knew it was forever changed that day,” attorney Jeffrey Bornstein wrote. “His career as a 27-year veteran pilot is over. He has been publicly ridiculed in the press. He also faces the daunting prospect of continuing to defend himself in a variety of civil actions.”
Cota will make history as the first bar pilot sentenced to prison for negligently causing an accident, according to the filing.
