A man who fell to his death from a container ship near the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge Thursday morning has been identified as 40-year-old Huang Chin-Fu of Taiwan, according to the San Francisco medical examiner’s office.
U.S. Coast Guard Lt. j.g. Jeremy Pichette said today his agency is still investigating the incident, which occurred about 5:10 a.m. Thursday, and he has no new information to release.
According to Pichette, Chin-Fu fell from the Ever Elite, a 900-foot vessel that was traveling inbound to the Oakland Outer Harbor.
The incident occurred underneath the western span of the Bay Bridge between Yerba Buena Island and San Francisco, he said.
The Coast Guard launched a 25-foot-long response boat and the pilot vessel Golden Gate and three nearby tugboats also responded, Pichette said.
The pilot vessel found Chin-Fu about 2 feet underwater. He was not wearing a life vest, Pichette said.
Chin-Fu was taken to Pier 39 in San Francisco because that was the closest land, Pichette said, and was pronounced dead there.
Pichette said the American Bureau of Shipping, a non-profit industry group based in Houston that is dedicated to promoting safety, is helping the Coast Guard investigate the incident.
According to Port of Oakland spokesman Robert Bernardo, the Ever Elite is managed by Evergreen Marine Ltd., which is based in London.
Officials from Evergreen and its American affiliate haven’t responded to requests for comment.
