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A shaky sealing limits flow into Buzzards Bay
By Sean P. Murphy and William P. Coughlin, Globe Staff, 6/12/1990
OODS HOLE -- With one stretch of pristine coastline already blackened with spilled oil, the damaged cruise ship Bermuda Star remained in Buzzards Bay last night with only the press of the ocean holding back an additional 100,000 gallons of oil.
About 7,500 gallons of heavy oil poured from a long gash in the vessel's bottom and began to wash ashore yesterday while Coast Guard investigators sought answers to why the ship ran aground in shallow, rocky waters.
Ocean water flowing into the bottom of the vessel replaced the leaked oil and lifted the remaining store of fuel oil above the ripped out section of the hull, Coast Guard officials said.
The weight of the water against the lighter oil created a natural, but precarious, seal against further leaking, said Chief Warrant Officer Thomas Blair.
Rough weather last night threatened to cause more leaking by sloshing the oil remaining in the vessel's tanks. Coast Guard officials warned against a potentially more serious oil spill in Buzzards Bay.
High seas and heavy winds also prevented an attempt to repair the 90-foot gash that tore open Sunday morning when the Bermuda Star ran aground about a mile from the West Falmouth coast.
A team of divers yesterday used video cameras to photograph the damaged hull. Representatives of the vessel's owner, agent and insurer were scheduled to meet with Coast Guard officials last night to decide how to repair the hull at dawn today.
Once patched, the 617-foot luxury cruise ship was expected to sail to New York for repairs.
Coast Guard officials conducted routine tests of the captain, pilot and helmsman for drugs or alcohol, but the results were not yet available.
The Coast Guard on Sunday supervised the evacuation of 680 passengers from the Panamanian-registered liner, which was on the second day of a eight-day cruise from New York to Montreal. Many passengers stayed in Boston hotels last night while making plans to return home.
On Naushon Island, about 15 miles southwest from the site of the grounding, a coat of thick, heavy oil lined a four-mile section of the shore, according to the Coast Guard. The oil powered the Bermuda Star's 25,000-horsepower engine.
Don Lynch, owner of a Cuttyhunk boatyard, said many residents were "very concerned" about an oil spill driving away recreational boaters and beach- goers who support the local economy.
Naushon Island is one of the 16 Elizabeth islands that stretch out along Buzzards Bay from the Woods Hole, at the southwest corner of Cape Cod. Oil was also expected to make landfall in Woods Hole, the Coast Guard said.
Coast Guard officials said oil was released from the Bermuda Star in two segments; the first when the vessel grounded just after 8:10 a.m. Sunday and the second when the vessel was pulled off the rocks about 12 hours later.
A second oil slick remained in the vicinity of the Bermuda Star, anchored nearly three miles southwest of the canal entrance. That slick was being carried south by the current.
Coast Guard Cmdr. Larry Doyle, head of the Marine Safety Office in Providence, said a corps of about 100 Coast Guard members and volunteers was organized to begin cleaning the shoreline today.
Two Coast Guard investigators, meanwhile, were dispatched to the Bermuda Star to determine whether the grounding was due to human error or equipment failure, Blair said.
The water where the grounding occurred is well marked with buoys and charted in detail for mariners but affords little room for mistakes due to its shallow waters and rocky bottom, Blair said.
The grounding occurred in dense fog, but even in the worst conditions the vessel's exact position should have been readily available to officers on the bridge due to radar and other electronic navigational devices.
"They should have been aware of where they were," Blair said. "Why they didn't know, we don't know yet."
At a news conference, Doyle said the ship's captain and pilot told investigators the grounding occurred as they attempted to delay passage into the Cape Cod Canal.
The Bermuda Star was running about three hours ahead of schedule, en route to Provincetown, in thick fog when Capt. Hans Lewing and pilot John Neary apparently decided to wait for the morning fog to lift, Doyle said.
The vessel had not quite reached the channel leading to the canal entrance when it turned to make a wide circle. The vessel was making a second circle 30 minutes later when it went aground. Blair said the tide was going out at the time.
The grounding occurred on Cleveland Ledge, a sprawling underwater ridge of rock about a mile off the Falmouth coast. A 74-foot lighthouse marks Cleveland Ledge about seven miles from the entrance to the Cape Cod Canal.
In compliance with Coast Guard regulations, the Bermuda Star picked up Neary as a local pilot to help guide the cruise ship through the canal. The vessel is registered in Panama; its captain and officers are German; and its crew of about 380 is international.
Neary, of Barrington, R.I., was put aboard the Bermuda Star at about 3:30 a.m. on Sunday near Brenton Reef, off Newport, R.I., according to the Coast Guard.
Neary, who remained aboard the Bermuda Star last night, declined comment yesterday.
Bruce Fisher, president of Northeast Pilots Association of Newport, R.I., said Neary "is one of the our most senior pilots" with 35 years' experience in Buzzards Bay.
Fisher said the Bermuda Star may have strayed in dangerous waters due to an equipment failure or human error. "Exactly how it got to where it did, that's a mystery," he said.
Neary was pilot aboard the auto carrier Haul Ingrita when it went aground on Jamestown Island, R.I., near Fort Weatherill, last fall, Fisher said. That occurred when a crewman accidently turned off the vessel's steering mechanism, he said.
Fisher said he has served as pilot for the Bermuda Star, which makes 15 trips through the canal each summer in cruises from New York to Nova Scotia. Fisher described the captain and crew as "very efficient."
The vessel is owned and operated by Bermuda Star Cruiselines Inc. of Teaneck, N.J. Blair said the Coast Guard will proceed against the owner for violation of the federal Water Pollution Control Act.
The Bermuda Star was damaged last year in a fire while undergoing renovations at a shipyard in Portland, Ore.
Buzzards Bay has been the scene of several oil spills in recent years: a Liberian tanker in 1973 spilled 250,000 gallons; the Greek tanker Argo Merchant broke up in heavy seas in 1976, spilling 7.5 million gallons of oil; a barge spilled 119,000 gallons of gasoline in 1986; and the World Prodigy last summer dumped 288,000 gallons of heating fuel.
Bermuda Star passengers staying in a Boston hotel last night said they expected to be refunded the cost of the cruise, which ranged from $1,000 to $4,000 per person. The cruise line provided the passengers with airfare home but had made no commitment on a refund, they said.
A representative declined comment yesterday.
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