ABC News' Lisa Stark Reports: A person close to the investigation of a cargo ship collision and oil spill in San Francisco that killed hundreds of birds tells ABC News that the U.S. Coast Guard called out to the ship a few minutes before it collided with the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge Wednesday.

"We show you at a 235 heading, what is your intention," an unidentified U.S. Coast Guard official reportedly said. An official close to the investigation says that 'heading' put the ship right on a collision course with the bridge.

"I am coming around. I am steering 280 now, " was the response from the local pilot was brought on board the cargo ship to steer it through the San Francisco Bay waters.

When the ship hits the bridge, the pilot then radio's: "Traffic, we just touched the Delta span. I am going to go to anchor."

The Delta span is one of the four supports for the impacted section of the San Francisco Bay Bridge. The official close to the investigation said the pilot should have known it was a major hit, but certainly did not communicate that at the time.

The audio tape recordings of the conversation between the cargo ship and the U.S. Coast Guard have been transferred to the National Transportation Safety Board, the body leading the investigation of the collision and oil spill. 

The container ship MV Cosco Busan was bound for South Korea in dense fog when it hit the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge Wednesday, spilling gallons of heavy-duty bunker oil into the water.

The official tells ABC News there was only 300 feet visibility at the time of the collision. The investigation is trying to determine how fast the vessel was going.  It may have been going round 14 knots at the time of the collision, the official said, faster than would have been acceptable given the fog. However it's unclear whether the pilot simply sped up right before the collision in an attempt to avoid hitting the bridge.

The pilot was given alcohol and drug tests after the incident but the alcohol test came back negative, according to the official.  Investigators are still awaiting drug test results.