Boat Runs Aground, Breaks Up in Surf : Oxnard: Salvage operators blame liability worries for delays in saving fishing vessel. Waves spread debris over a mile of beach.

A commercial fishing boat that ran aground in a midnight fog early Wednesday in Oxnard was destroyed in the surf after salvage companies decided against trying to save it, partly because they feared they might get sued for their trouble.

The 40-foot boat and its crew of three Vietnamese-speaking fishermen were returning to Ventura Harbor from a seven-day trip to Santa Rosa Island. Its captain apparently became disoriented in the thick fog and landed on McGrath State Beach instead, a U.S. Coast Guard official said.

No one was injured in the mishap, but wreckage from the boat was scattered along a one-mile stretch of the beach and an unknown quantity of diesel fuel leaked into the water.

The owner of the marine salvage company that worked on the wreck, Lynn Menick, said worries about getting paid for his work and the fear of liability for possible injury to bystanders or environmental damage from leaking diesel fuel prevented him from taking on the job earlier.

Menick criticized state and county officials for not implementing a policy that would protect salvage companies from possible lawsuits in such instances and permit them to move more quickly in salvaging boats in immediate danger of breaking up after grounding.

State and county officials have considered adopting policies that would relieve salvage companies of liability in cleaning up boat wrecks, said Steven B. Treanor, district superintendent for the state Department of Parks and Recreation.

But so far nothing has been adopted, Treanor said Wednesday. He said public agencies have been reluctant to take responsibility for commercial wrecks for fear of being sued.

“If any agency takes on a salvage job, they become liable,” Treanor said. “No agency is willing to do that at this point.”

The lack of any protection for salvage operators was also criticized Wednesday by another Oxnard salvage operator who has worked closely with Menick in the past.

James McClelland said he used to respond promptly to emergency calls for help, but the legal risks now involved with salvage operations at area harbors have raised the stakes too high.

He said the Ventura County Board of Supervisors should adopt a contract policy that would allow him to save leaking, dangerous wrecks, but “the liability has them scared to death.”

“The bureaucrats just stand around and point fingers when there is an environmental hazard,” McClelland said. “But no one wants to prevent one.”

As a result of the delay in cleaning up the wreck, diesel fuel leaked into the ocean and the boat broke up about eight hours after Menick arrived at the scene.

Only late in the morning did Menick eventually work out a deal to salvage the boat’s engine. He said a language barrier between him and the Vietnamese-speaking crew kept him from negotiating the deal earlier with the boat’s owner, Tuan Huynh of Oxnard, who agreed to pay $1,300 to save the engine.

Menick said the boat carried no insurance, adding that previous “good faith” salvage operations had resulted in his company losing money when owners refused to pay.

The loss on the boat and cargo was estimated at about $50,000, Menick said.

Two fuel tanks with a combined 600-gallon capacity detached from the boat before they could be brought to shore, and probably spilled, Coast Guard Chief Petty Officer Mark Phillips said. Although some fuel was detected in the water, the tanks could not be found. Phillips did not know how much fuel leaked or the amount that remained in the tanks when the ship ran aground.

However, no environmental warnings were issued, Phillips said.

Meanwhile, witnesses on the beach said the boat and its 2 1/2-ton catch could have been saved from total destruction had there been earlier action to salvage it.

“The boat was high and dry and the engine didn’t have any water on it,” said Richard Metcalfe, a friend of the boat’s owner. “Now it’s a hazard on the beach.”

A group of fisherman and friends of the boat owner in the Ventura area began picking up the wasted haul of red snapper and debris late Wednesday afternoon.