Tanker Captain Bail Set At $500K
A U.S. judge set $500,000 bail for a Greek tanker captain charged with falsifying documents and lying to U.S. Coast Guard inspectors after his ship was found in San Francisco Bay with numerous safety violations, including risky oil leaks. U.S. Magistrate Joseph Spero set a Friday hearing to determine conditions for Capt. Kiriakos Daioglou's release if he is able to post bail, local news reports said. Daioglou was also ordered to remain in the United States at least until a bail review hearing next month. Daioglou was arrested over the weekend after USCG inspectors found oil leaks in the Singapore-registered Neptune Dorado's ballast tanks, which could have exploded if ignited. Roughly 177,000 barrels of crude from the tanker had been unloaded at Tosco Corp.'s Rodeo, Calif.
Tanker Captain Charged In San Francisco
The captain of an oil tanker that arrived in the San Francisco Bay with safety violations, including risky oil leaks, was charged on with falsifying documents and lying to Coast Guard inspectors. The Greek captain, who speaks little English, was arrested over the weekend after his Singapore-registered Neptune Dorado was found with oil in the ship's ballast tanks. If ignited, vapors from the oil could have caused the ship to explode, officials said. Ballast tanks are only supposed to hold water, in order to stabilize a ship, but the tanks on Neptune Dorado contained more than 500 tons of crude oil, according to court documents, which called it a "serious safety hazard."
