Cargo Ship Dumps Layer of Soot on Harbor

Wilmington boat owners found their vessels littered with soot Tuesday after a cargo ship in Los Angeles harbor belched a huge cloud of grimy smoke from its stacks.

Regional air quality inspectors said they were investigating whether the owners of the cargo ship S.S. Maui should be cited for causing a public nuisance in connection with the 10:15 a.m. incident. State fish and game officials, meanwhile, were determining whether water pollution from the grimy fallout constituted a violation of the state oil spill prevention law.

Matson Navigation Co., the Maui’s owners, said the release occurred when contract workers performing repair work in the vessel’s engine room accidentally opened a fuel oil control valve. The plume drifted across the harbor from the ship’s Terminal Island berth to the Wilmington waterfront, where there are numerous boat marinas. Matson said its officials were “genuinely upset” about the incident and pledged to compensate those whose property was damaged by the soot.