Investigators board ship that was anchored near oil pipeline

The U.S. Coast Guard has boarded a massive cargo ship as it investigates the rupture of an offshore oil pipeline that sent crude washing up on Souther California beaches

HUNTINGTON BEACH, Calif. -- U.S. Coast Guard investigators have boarded a massive cargo ship as part of the ongoing probe into what caused the rupture of a California oil pipeline that sent crude washing up on beaches.

The Associated Press reported Wednesday that the Rotterdam Express made a series of unusual movements while anchored in the closest spot to where the break in the pipeline occurred, according to data collected by a marine navigation service. The Coast Guard is investigating whether a ship anchor might have snagged and bent the pipeline owned by Amplify Energy, a Houston-based company that operates three offshore oil platforms south of Los Angeles.

AP reviewed more than two weeks of data from MarineTraffic, a navigation service that tracks radio signals from transponders that broadcast the locations of ships and large boats every few minutes.

That data shows the Rotterdam Express, a German-flagged ship nearly 1,000 feet (305 meters) long, was assigned to anchorage SF-3, the closest to where the pipeline ruptured off Huntington Beach. The ship made three unusual movements over two days that appear to put it over the pipeline.