Ship pilot asked to surrender license

The Coast Guard has asked Capt. John J. Cota to voluntarily surrender his merchant marine officer’s license one month after he was piloting the cargo ship Cosco Busan when it sideswiped the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge and caused an oil spill.

In a statement released Friday, the Coast Guard said Cota “is not physically competent to maintain his license.”

A request for “voluntary deposit of a license” is an administrative procedure that the Coast Guard uses when there is evidence of mental or physical incompetence. The Coast Guard holds on to the deposited license until the holder proves that he or she is fit for duty

-- Monte Morin