California State Auditor Elaine Howle has found that the Board of Pilot Commissioners for the Bays of San Francisco, San Pablo, and Suisun has been lacking in oversight, record-keeping, and compliance with state law. The audit was required under Senate Bill 1627, which was passed following the allision of the Cosco Busan with the Bay Bridge in November 2007, resulting in a 53,000-gallon spill of bunker fuel into the water. Capt. John Cota, the pilot onboard the containership at the time, was later found to be criminally liable and was sentenced to prison.
SB 1627 also put the Pilot Commission under the authority of the state Business, Transportation and Housing Agency.
The blistering 68-page auditor's report listed several instances where the board had failed to live up to its mandate. They included:
- The board did not consistently adhere to state law when licensing pilots. In one case, it licensed a pilot 28 days before he received a required physical examination; he piloted vessels 18 times during this period.
- The board renewed some pilots' licenses even though the pilots had received physical examinations from physicians the board had not appointed and, in one case, renewed a license for a pilot who had not had a physical examination that year.
- Of the 24 investigations reviewed, 17 went beyond the 90-day statutory deadline for completion.
- The board did not investigate reports of suspected safety standard violations of pilot boarding equipment as required by law.The board failed to ensure that all pilots completed required training within specified time frames.
- The board lacked a procedure, required in state law, for access to confidential information, and it released information to the public that included a pilot's home address and Social Security number.
- The board did not ensure that some of its members and investigators filed required statements of economic interests.
- The board did not approve several changes to the rates pilots charge for their services, as required by law.
- The board paid for business-class airfare for pilots attending training in France, which may constitute a misuse of public funds.
Capt. Patrick Moloney, who spent 16 years as executive director to the Board of Pilot Commissioners, resigned on Oct. 30. He and the Board had come under intense criticism following the Cosco Busan incident.
The auditor reported that the board agrees with the audit recommendations and has outlined action it plans to take to address its shortcomings.
The audit recommended that the board should:
- Verify that pilots have fulfilled all the requirements before the board renews their license.
- Establish a procedure to approve and monitor board-appointed physician to administer pilot physical exams.
- Implement procedures to track the progress of investigations, investigate reports of safety standard violations.
- Ensure there are proper justifications for investigations taking more than 90 days.
- Ensure that all pilots complete required training within the time frame required.
- Establish a formal procedure for gathering and maintaining required statements of economic interests, including those from the board's investigators.
- Review and approve quarterly calculations of the rates pilots charge for their services.
- Require a yearly audit of both the pilot board and pilot pension surcharges.
- Seek competitive bids from physicians to perform physical examinations of pilots.
- Stop reimbursing pilots for business-class travel when they fly for training.
Summary of Audit
Audit Report
Pacific Merchant Shipping Association Release
-- The Cunningham Report
