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. refinery before the Coast Guard halted operations.