NAUTICAL LOG

This morning an item crossed my desk about something which is such a rare event I thought it worth writing a Post. NAUTICAL LOG has previously written about the incident which occurred on November 07, 2007. On that foggy morning Mr. John Cota, a San Francisco Compulsory Pilot, was piloting the MS "Cosco Busan" when he slammed it into the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge. Perhaps you will recall the deplorable subsequent treatment of her Chinese Master, the crew and the disgraceful comment in the NTSB Report of the incident. In March 2009 Mr. Cota did the honourable thing and pleaded guilty. On Friday July 17, 2009 he was sentenced to 10 months in prison. The report NAUTICAL LOG received stated, "U.S. District Court Judge Susan Illston sentenced John Cota to the maximum sentence Friday for two misdemeanor environmental crimes of illegally discharging oil in the bay and killing thousands of birds." It is interesting that Mr. Cota was punished for an environmental ...

Pointe du Hoc In June 2009 my Grandson visited his birth country of France. Being a United States Citizen he visited Normandy to learn firsthand the price of freedom for both France and the United States. These are some of his 200 photographs. So Marlon, merci/thank you, we appreciate your love of both countries. It is good to have a reminder of this country's sacrifice for other Nations from the generation growing towards adulthood. Photographs courtesy of Marlon Gadea, 15. Sainte Mere Eglise Beach Landing craft Good Watch

This is a NAUTICAL LOG article. It serves as informational guidance only. To operate a vessel you must refer to, understand and follow the Rules as published by your particular Government in compliance to IMO Regulations and SOLAS. Reading in other maritime Blogs which republish a variety of reports and watching the so called news media, NAUTICAL LOG has noticed something worth commenting on. Many times it seems after an incident it transpires that the passengers were not informed or did not understand the Safety Instructions. Also quite often in the photos passengers are sitting and are equipped inappropriately. With a background in Cruise Ships and many years as a Safety Officer in them I thought perhaps it would be helpful to write a Post on that subject. First lets have a look at the background Legislation. It begins with the requirements resulting from the IMCO SOLAS Conferences starting in the 1950's. Here in the United States the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) is the La...