An empty oil tanker caused minor damage when it struck the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge on Monday, and the busy span remained open to traffic, officials said.
The tanker “Overseas Reymar” from the Marshall Islands struck a tower of the west span of the bridge about 11:20 a.m. local time while it headed out to sea, according to the Coast Guard and state transportation officials.
It was not carrying oil as cargo, only fuel to power its engines, said Charlie Goodyear, a spokesman for the San Francisco Bar Pilots Association. He said the ship’s hull appeared to suffer some scrapes and minor indentations but was not breached.
