Pilot Error Suspected in Tanker Mishap

A preliminary investigation into the grounding Thursday of an Exxon oil tanker in Long Beach Harbor points to pilot error as the cause of the mishap, a Coast Guard spokesman said Saturday.

“It appears the pilot took the vessel north out of the anchorage instead of east to the main channel,” said Lt. Steve Danscuk. “That appears to have been the cause of the accident.”

The Exxon Long Beach, sister ship to the Exxon Valdez, became stuck in soft mud Thursday morning as it moved slowly from its anchorage inside the breakwater to Terminal Island. The 950-foot supertanker was not damaged and no oil was spilled.

The main channel has been dredged to a depth of 60 feet, but waters north of the ship’s anchorage are as shallow as 40 feet, according to the Coast Guard. At the time of the grounding, the heavily laden supertanker was drawing about 54 to 56 feet of water, officials said.

The Coast Guard identified the pilot as Capt. Sam Jabuka, a local harbor pilot employed by Jacobsen Pilot Service. Jabuka could not be reached for comment, and a spokesman for Jacobsen referred calls to the company’s administrative office, which was closed for the weekend.

Danscuk said the Coast Guard’s investigation was continuing, and that it was too early to determine whether Jabuka acted negligently. He said investigators had not finished interviewing the pilot about the mishap, and results of drug and alcohol use tests would not be available for a week.

“There may be other underlying reasons that contributed to the cause,” Danscuk said. “We don’t know what was in the pilot’s mind and why he did what he did.”

Exxon spokeswoman Carrie Chassin said Saturday that the Coast Guard had not notified the company of its preliminary findings. But she said Exxon has maintained all along that the ship “was under the navigational control” of the local harbor pilot--not an Exxon captain--when the mishap occured.

“The local harbor pilot is in the position of providing the most up-to-date navigational information to any of our ships that come into local harbors,” she said.

The supertanker was stuck for about 30 minutes before the crew, shifting the cargo and taking advantage of the high tide, was able to proceed to the pier and unload the oil, Coast Guard officials said.