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SAN FRANCISCO (CBS 5 / AP / BCN) ― Chinese crew members of the cargo ship that caused the massive San Francisco Bay oil spill are refusing to speak with federal investigators after the U.S.-based pilot of the vessel blamed the ship's Chinese captain for the accident during an interview with the National Transportation Safety Board, officials said Wednesday.

Authorities also acknowleged Wednesday that the Chinese crew apparently had their drug and alcohol tests mishandled in the incident's aftermath.

Meanwhile, the U.S. Coast Guard, which has been criticized for its handling of the incident, replaced the commander overseeing the response to last week's spill.

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At a U.S. Senate hearing in Washington, Coast Guard Commandant Admiral Thad Allen said Capt. Paul Gugg will assume oversight of the response from Capt. William Uberti, who will remain the Coast Guard commander for the San Francisco Bay region.

"Given the concerns ... about what may or may not have happened, we thought it was best at this time to bring in a new incident commander for this particular response," Allen said.

Nearly 30 beaches, including all of San Francisco's Ocean Beach, remained closed a week after the Hong Kong-based Cosco Busan struck the Bay Bridge, spilling 58,000 gallons of oil into the bay. At least 590 birds were killed, 804 more were injured, and the region's commercial and sport fisheries have been temporarily shut down because of the dense, toxic bunker fuel that poured from the freighter's tank.

Several investigations are under way, including a criminal probe by federal prosecutors, and one by the National Transportation Safety Board that will include an examination of the response by the Coast Guard and the company that owns the vessel.

NTSB member Debbie Hersman said the Cosco Busan's crew members have hired lawyers and are now declining to speak to investigators, a roadblock that is complicating the investigation. Some of the crew members had previously spoken to the Coast Guard, but new criminal and civil investigations have apparently prompted the crew to refuse interviews, she said.

The Cosco Busan's pilot, U.S. citizen John Cota, told NTSB investigators the accident happened after the ship's radar failed and the Chinese captain of the ship indicated an erroneous path to him under the bridge using an electronic chart display. The path apparently had the ship headed directly toward the bridge tower, according to Cota's attorney, John Meadows.

The Coast Guard warned Cota the ship was off course shortly before the collision, and investigators said that Cota disputed that view, then changed course. The ship made a hard right after Cota said a lookout on the ship's bow sounded an alarm and shouted out that he could see the bridge tower dead ahead.

Cota's lawyer said the last-second evasive manuever prevented the ship from going head-on into the tower. Meadows said Cota gave his account to the NTSB in a three-hour meeting Monday.

As for the crew members, the NTSB could subpoena them -- but can't force them to talk.

"We absolutely would prefer to be able to interview all of the crew members," Hersman said. "We'd like to know what they were thinking. We'd like to understanding what happened with respect to communications and decision-making."

But if investigators can't interview the crew, the NTSB will still "conduct a thorough investigation and determine probable cause" by using information from the voyage-data recordings and other sources, she said.

The crew remains on board the ship at the Port of Oakland, the Coast Guard said.

The Coast Guard revealed Wednesday that some of the drug and alcohol tests taken by crew members were conducted outside the legal time limits. Federal law requires all crew members to be tested for alcohol within two hours of an incident and for drugs within 32 hours.

Cota, the local harbor pilot who was guiding the ship, was tested within the legal time frames for drugs and alcohol, Rear Adm. Craig Bone said. Those tests were negative.

But because the ship was forced to anchor after the bridge strike, then move, it was nearly three hours before the ship's master, helmsman and chief engineer were tested for alcohol. Those tests were negative.

The ship's master, or captain, was drug tested seven hours after the incident; those results are pending.

Also pending are the drug results for several other crew members who weren't tested until about 53 hours after the incident, Bone said.

The Coast Guard has been criticized for a lapse of several hours between when officials knew the spill was 58,000 gallons -- not 140 gallons as initially reported -- and when that information was made public.

Allen told senators that the Coast Guard will review its own response, a process that will include the city of San Francisco, the state of California and others.

He repeated assertions that the response was "according to the plan" and denied that the Coast Guard's post-Sept. 11 integration into the Department of Homeland Security had hampered its ability to respond to marine accidents.

Coast Guard officials will face another round of oil spill questions at a hearing in San Francisco Monday from members of the U.S. House of Representatives Subcommittee on Coast Guard and Maritime Transportation.

Congressman and subcommittee chairman Elijah Cummings (D-Maryland) said he is concerned the Coast Guard was unprepared for the spill or unaware of the extent of the disaster. He said he wants to find a better way to handle such an event in the future.

"There is an extreme difference between the 140 gallons of spilled oil initially reported by the Coast Guard and the nearly 60,000 gallons that we now hear have been spilled," Cummings said. "The hearing will examine the adequacy of the system for reporting oil spills and the effectiveness of the Coast Guard response."

Meanwhile, the state Department of Fish and Game announced specific areas closed to fishing because of the oil spill. This includes all of San Francisco Bay and the Pacific coast stretching from San Pedro Point in San Mateo County to the Point Reyes Lighthouse in Marin County and extending three miles offshore.

The closure remains in effect until Dec. 1 -- or until state health officials determine that seafood caught in impacted areas is safe to eat.

However, Bay Area fishermen were scrambling to head out to sea after wildlife officials decided to leave open most of the region's Dungeness crab fishery.

Fishermen will not be able to unload crabs in San Francisco, but they can still deliver their catch to buyers in Half Moon Bay or Bodega Bay.

Local fishermen had asked the governor to delay the opening of the entire commercial crab fishery because they are worried about possible contamination from the spilled oil—as well as public perceptions that the catch could be tainted.

Some fishermen said they were outraged that state officials decided to leave open most of the Central California crab fishery, which extends south from Point Arena in Mendocino County. The fishery traditionally opens two weeks before larger crab fisheries further north.

"This is an absolute disaster," said Larry Collins, who heads the San Francisco Crab Boat Owners Association. "We're all stunned. It's absolutely irresponsible."

About 20 fishing boats from San Francisco were hired to help with oil cleanup efforts. Those fishermen are now rushing to get out to sea and drop their crab traps, Collins said.

DFG spokesman Steve Martarano said his agency consulted with all sectors of the fishing industry before deciding which areas should be closed.

"All of us were concerned about the human health issue," Martarano said. "There was a wide range of opinion, and we took everything into consideration."

Many of the fishermen who requested the delay are now preparing for the harvest because they worry that if they wait their competitors will haul away all the crab, said Zeke Grader, who heads the Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen's Associations.

"There's real potential for contaminated crab getting on the market," Grader said. "If somebody gets bad crab or even if it tastes bad, then it hurts the market and its reputation."

San Francisco city officials have also agreed to secure $250,000 to pay local fishermen to help scoop up oil still floating inside and outside the Golden Gate. The local fishermen are being hired by the Port of San Francisco as part of the cleanup effort.

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