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."