Coast Guard targets second vessel tied to pipeline spill

LOS ANGELES — Federal authorities last week boarded the container vessel Beijing in Long Beach, identifying it as a second ship under investigation in the Orange County oil spill.

Authorities from the U.S. Coast Guard and National Transportation Safety Board believe a ship’s anchor hit an oil pipeline off Huntington Beach and eventually led to the Oct. 2 spill.

Braden Rostad, chief of investigations for Los AngelesLong

Beach, determined that the Beijing was involved in a Jan. 25 anchor-dragging incident during heavy weather at the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, the Coast Guard said in a statement. As a result of the Coast Guard findings, it has designated the ship’s owners, Capetanissa of Liberia and the operator V-Ships Greece Ltd as parties of interest in the investigation.

Rostad had previously identified the MSC Danit, another large cargo vessel that was being investigated for the dragging incident.

The anchor-dragging occurred near a pipeline that runs from an oil platform to the Port of Long Beach. That pipeline was discovered to be the source of the Orange County oil spill on Oct. 2 An oil sheen was first spotted that evening by a vessel 4.5 miles off Huntington Beach, then detected by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

The pipeline was intact in October 2020 when the company that operates it last did an inspection, and the marine growth around the displaced section of the pipeline indicates the anchor drag probably was not recent, said U.S. Coast Guard Capt. Jason Neubauer.

Investigators suspect an initial anchor strike displaced part of the pipeline many months before the spill, stripping away its concrete casing and causing it to be more vulnerable to other potential anchor strikes or environmental stresses.

As they attempt to determine when that first strike occurred, the investigating team is focusing on a storm that brought strong winds to the area over two days in late January.

Data of vessel movements reviewed by the Times show MSC Danit moving over the pipeline while in high winds Jan. 25.

The Coast Guard has designated Mediterranean Shipping Co., the operator of the vessel, and Dordellas Finance Corp., its owner, as parties of interest in the ongoing investigation.