Is German cargo ship responsible for California oil spill?

Officials are probing whether a German-flagged cargo ship was responsible for rupturing a California oil pipeline which has leaked more than 125,000 gallons of crude into the sea.  

The 1,000ft Rotterdam Express made a series of unusual movements while anchored in the closest spot to where the break in the pipeline occurred, according to the Associated Press. 

The Coast Guard is investigating whether an anchor might have snagged and bent the pipeline owned by Amplify Energy, a Houston-based company that operates three offshore oil platforms south of Los Angeles. 

Dead fish and birds have been washing ashore since the leak was reported on Saturday, with the 13-square-mile oil slick stretching more than five miles between Huntington Beach and Newport Beach. 

The coast is a renowned habitat for threatened and endangered species including humpback whales and a small wading bird called the snowy plover. 

AP reviewed more than two weeks of data from MarineTraffic, a navigation service that tracks radio signals from transponders that broadcast the locations of ships and large boats every few minutes.

That data shows the Rotterdam Express was assigned to anchorage SF-3, the closest to where the pipeline ruptured off Huntington Beach. The ship made three unusual movements over two days that appear to put it over the pipeline. 

In a statement to AP on Thursday, Hapag-Lloyd, the shipping company that operates the Rotterdam Express, confirmed that investigators boarded the ship while it was docked at the Port of Oakland on Wednesday. The company has said it played no role in the oil spill.

The Rotterdam Express is seen at the Port of Oakland, Wednesday, October 6. The German-flagged cargo ship made a series of unusual movements while anchored in the closest spot to where the break in the pipeline occurred, according to the Associated Press.

Workers in protective suits cleaning the contaminated Newport Beach on Wednesday after the oil spill. Dead birds and fish have been washing ashore since the leak was reported on Saturday

Workers in protective suits cleaning the contaminated Newport Beach on Wednesday after the oil spill. Dead birds and fish have been washing ashore since the leak was reported on Saturday

People play on the sand in the background as workers in protective suits clean the contaminated beach after an oil spill in Newport Beach

People play on the sand in the background as workers in protective suits clean the contaminated beach after an oil spill in Newport Beach

Bags of crude oil collected by workers stack on a beach on Wednesday after an oil spill in Newport Beach, California

Bags of crude oil collected by workers stack on a beach on Wednesday after an oil spill in Newport Beach, California 

Investigators have boarded the vessel as they probe what caused the leak which has pumped more than 125,000 gallons of crude into the sea

Investigators have boarded the vessel as they probe what caused the leak which has pumped more than 125,000 gallons of crude into the sea

Drilling platforms Elly (left), Ellen (centre) and Eureka are seen off the southern California coast on Wednesday. The ruptured pipe is connected to the Elly platform

Drilling platforms Elly (left), Ellen (centre) and Eureka are seen off the southern California coast on Wednesday. The ruptured pipe is connected to the Elly platform

‘We are fully cooperating with the authorities at this moment,’ said Nils Haupt, a spokesman at Hapag-Lloyd’s headquarters in Hamburg, Germany.

A U.S. official told the AP on Wednesday that the Rotterdam Express has become a focus of the spill investigation. The official cautioned the ship is only one lead being pursued in the investigation, which is in the early stages.

The investigators are seeking to collect tracking and navigational information from the vessel that could help them identify its exact movements, the official said. They are also seeking preliminary interviews with at least some crew members.

The official could not discuss the investigation publicly and spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity.

Petty Officer Steve Strohmaier, a Coast Guard spokesperson, declined to comment on the Rotterdam Express Wednesday but said the agency is analyzing electric charting systems from its vessel traffic service to see what ships were anchored or moving over the spill area.

The MarineTraffic data reviewed by AP shows the Rotterdam Express arrived outside the Port of Long Beach early on Sept. 22 and dropped anchor about 2,000 feetfrom the pipeline.

The following day, at about 5 p.m., the data for the ship’s locator beacon indicated that while anchored it suddenly moved thousands of feet to the southeast, a track that would have taken it over the pipeline lying on the seafloor about 100 feet below. The ship appears to have then engaged its engines to return to its anchorage about 10 minutes later.

A dead fish washed ashore on Wednesday as contamination from the oil spill plagues marine life

A dead fish washed ashore on Wednesday as contamination from the oil spill plagues marine life

Another dead fish which washed ashore on Wednesday as contamination from the oil spill plagues marine life

Another dead fish which washed ashore on Wednesday as contamination from the oil spill plagues marine life

Workers in protective suits clean the contaminated beach after an oil spill in Newport Beach

Workers in protective suits clean the contaminated beach after an oil spill in Newport Beach

The ship then moved again around midnight and a third time shortly before 8 a.m. on Sept. 23, each time moving back to its assigned anchorage, according to its online location data. The Rotterdam Express remained at spot SF-3 until Sunday, when it moved into the port to unload.

The first report of oil in the water near the pipeline were made Friday evening. Amplify said the pipeline was shut down early Saturday morning but has not said how long it believes oil flowed from it.

Amplify’s CEO Martyn Willsher said Tuesday divers determined a 4,000-feet section of the pipeline was dislodged 105 feet, bent back like the string on a bow. Oil escaped through a slender crack.

The amount is unclear. Amplify has said publicly that no more than 126,000 gallons leaked but told federal investigators it may be only 29,400 gallons.

AP first contacted Hapag-Lloyd on Tuesday evening, seeking an explanation for the ship’s movements on Sept. 22 and 23. 

Crews led by the U.S. Coast Guard recovered 3,150 gallons of oil from the water, of the 126,000 gallons that spilled into the Pacific Ocean

Fourteen Coast Guard boats led oil recovery operations Sunday afternoon

Crews led by the U.S. Coast Guard recovered 3,150 gallons of oil from the water, of the 126,000 gallons that spilled into the Pacific Ocean

Oil flowing through the Talbert Channel, gathering on an absorption boom that helps stop the flow into the ecologically sensitive Talbert Marsh as a major oil spill washes ashore at Huntington State Beach on Sunday

Oil flowing through the Talbert Channel, gathering on an absorption boom that helps stop the flow into the ecologically sensitive Talbert Marsh as a major oil spill washes ashore at Huntington State Beach on Sunday

Heavy machinery builds a sand berm, blocking any more oil coming into the Talbert Channel

Heavy machinery builds a sand berm, blocking any more oil coming into the Talbert Channel

Oil washing up at the shore on Sunday

Oil washing up at the shore on Sunday

On Wednesday, Nils denied that the ship ever moved off anchor from spot SF-3 during that period. He said the transponder data displayed by MarineTraffic is erroneous.

‘We have proof by the logbook, which is updated hourly, that the vessel did not move,’ Haupt said. ‘MarineTraffic in this case is wrong and the position is indeed incorrect.’

AP sent an email Wednesday morning to the Unified Command Joint Information?Center for state and federal agencies responding to the oil spill, seeking comment about the movements made by the Rotterdam Express prior to the spill. Senior Chief Petty Officer Lauren Jorgensen said the command was unable to discuss matters involving an ongoing investigation.

Nikolas Xiros, a professor of marine engineering at the University of New Orleans, said it would be highly unlikely that the transponder data for a ship, which works through a global network called the Automatic Identification System, would be off by several thousand feet.

‘AIS transporters are very accurate and the whole system is also very accurate,’ Xiros said after reviewing the location track for Rotterdam Express. ‘I think probably the ship moved, that’s what I think. And with the anchor down, which was a big problem.’ 

Oil formed into globules, foam and sheen that flowed in from high tide and was held back by a sand berm and boom in a trapped pool as a major oil spill washes ashore on the border of Huntington Beach and Newport Beach

Oil formed into globules, foam and sheen that flowed in from high tide and was held back by a sand berm and boom in a trapped pool as a major oil spill washes ashore on the border of Huntington Beach and Newport Beach

Oil absorbent booms are being used by workers with Patriot Environmental Services to clean up oil that flowed into the Talbert Marsh in Huntington Beach on Sunday

Oil absorbent booms are being used by workers with Patriot Environmental Services to clean up oil that flowed into the Talbert Marsh in Huntington Beach on Sunday

Xiros, who has spent more than two decades teaching marine navigation and electronics to future ship captains and crew, said the only alternative explanation he could think of was that either someone had hacked the AIS system to make the Rotterdam Express appear to move or that the ship’s transmitter somehow became unfastened from its mast, fell in the water and drifted away before being retrieved by the crew, only to have it come unfastened two more times. 

Xiros also said he could provide no reasonable explanation for why the ship might have moved so far off its assigned station. Records show relatively calm weather and seas during the days in question.

‘There is a series of peculiar things and all that need to be explained,’ Xiros said. ‘It may very well be some kind of an accident, but not necessarily a human error. We will have to see. But . I think he most probable explanation is the ship with anchor down moved both back and forth and possibly caused damage to the pipeline.’

If a ship’s anchor were to become entangled with an underwater obstacle such as a communications cable or petroleum pipeline, the operator is required by federal law to notify the Coast Guard. The locations and movements of ships are also regularly monitored by both the AIS system and radar, according to the Coast Guard.

Xiros said if he were investigating the cause of the oil spill, he would seek to review the digital logs for both location and engine operations aboard the Rotterdam Express.

According to MarineTraffic data, the ship left Long Beach on Monday for the Port of Oakland. It was still moored there Thursday morning, despite being scheduled to depart Wednesday night. 

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