SAN FRANCISCO -- A federal judge refused to accept a no contest plea Monday to felony charges from the operator of a container ship that struck a bumper protecting the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge in the San Francisco Bay last year.

The Hong Kong-based Fleet Management had asked U.S. District Judge Susan Illston to allow them to plead no contest.

But federal prosecutors countered that such a plea would be inappropriate because the company would not have to accept responsibility for the allegedly "serious crimes it has committed." Illston sided with federal prosecutors.

Fleet Management was operating the Cosco Busan when the container ship struck a protective fender of the Bay Bridge on Nov. 7, 2007, and spilled nearly 54,000 gallons of oil into the Bay.

The company is accused of polluting the Bay, killing migratory birds and six counts of false statements and obstruction of justice for allegedly creating false transit documents after the incident.

Prosecutors claim that Fleet Management failed to train the crew properly and made financially motivated "conscious decisions not to follow safe management practices and safe navigational procedures."

The federal attorneys wrote, "An accident waiting to happen is not an accident."

Fleet Management told Illston it wanted to plead no contest to resolve the case and avoid a costly trial, which is now scheduled for Nov. 17.

The criminal fines for the eight counts against the company could amount to either more than $3 million or twice the financial loss caused by the incident.

Pilot John Cota, 60, of Petaluma, also faces criminal charges in the spill and is due to be tried together with Fleet Management on two of the counts at the Nov. 17 trial.