By MICHAEL KUNZELMAN and REBECCA BOONE (Associated Press)
The owner and operator of the cargo ship that collided with Baltimore’s Francis Scott Key Bridge, causing it to collapse last week, filed a court petition on Monday to restrict their legal liability for the tragic event.
The companies’ request to restrict their liability is a standard but crucial procedure for cases governed by U.S. maritime law. A federal court in Maryland will ultimately determine who is at fault and how much they are required to pay for what might end up being one of the most expensive disasters of its kind.
Grace Ocean Private Ltd., based in Singapore, owns the Dali, the ship that lost power before hitting the bridge last Tuesday. Synergy Marine Pte Ltd., also based in Singapore, is the ship’s manager.
They are seeking to limit their liability to approximately $43.6 million. They claim the vessel is valued at up to $90 million and was carrying freight worth over $1.1 million in income for the companies. The estimate also accounts for two major expenses: at least $28 million in repair costs and at least $19.5 million in salvage costs.
The companies filed under a pre-Civil War provision of an 1851 maritime law that allows them to attempt to limit their liability to the value of the vessel’s remains after an accident. This has been used as a defense in many significant maritime disasters, according to James Mercante, a New York City-based attorney specializing in maritime law for over 30 years.
“This is the first step in the process,” Mercante said. “Now all claims must be filed in this proceeding.”
A report from credit rating agency Morningstar DBRS predicts the bridge collapse could become the most expensive marine insured loss in history, possibly exceeding the record of about $1.5 billion set by the 2012 shipwreck of the Costa Concordia cruise ship off Italy. Morningstar DBRS estimates total insured losses for the Baltimore disaster could be $2 billion to $4 billion.
Eight people were working on the highway bridge — a 1.6-mile span over the Patapsco River — when it collapsed. Two were rescued. The bodies of two more were recovered. Four remain missing and are presumed dead.
The wreckage closed the Port of Baltimore, a major shipping port, potentially costing the area’s economy hundreds of millions of dollars in lost labor income alone over the next month.
Experts estimate that the cost to rebuild the collapsed bridge could range from at least $400 million to as much as twice that, though the actual amount will depend largely on the new design.
The amount of money families can typically receive for wrongful death claims in maritime law cases depends on various factors, including the expected financial contribution of the deceased to their family, as well as funeral expenses.
In general, wrongful death damages may also cover expenses such as funeral costs and the “loss of nurture,” which is essentially the monetary value assigned to the emotional and practical support the victim would have provided to their children.
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