The owner of the ship that toppled Baltimore’s Francis Scott Key Bridge appears to be seeking to cap the amount of damages that the company can be forced to pay following the deadly crash.

The Singapore-based Grace Ocean Private Ltd. indicated it will file a “limitation of liability” action in federal court Monday, invoking a little-known statute used in maritime law.

The filing itself is not yet available, but a docket in U.S. District Court in Maryland showed the company has initiated an action involving limitation of liability, a key move that maritime lawyers saidwould be likely to take place soon after the disaster.

  • Dagamant@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    48
    arrow-down
    2
    ·
    3 months ago

    I’m sure the cost is already much higher than they could afford. Between the bridge itself, the cost of diverting shipping and the economic impact of said diversion.

    • Davel23@fedia.io
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      44
      ·
      edit-2
      3 months ago

      I’m sure the cost is already much higher than they could afford.

      That’s what insurance is supposed to be for, assuming they had it. Getting the insurance company to actually pay out, that’s a different story entirely.

        • MagicShel@programming.dev
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          22
          ·
          3 months ago

          Those assholes can fuck right off. I’m sick of rich people gambling big and fucking me over win or lose. If every rich person can afford one fewer yacht because they are held accountable when they gamble and lose, they would lose nothing of value.

    • Ragnarok314159@sopuli.xyz
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      10
      ·
      3 months ago

      Then they get to liquidate some assets to pay for the replacement costs.

      The crew looks like they went to the extreme to avoid the collision, contacting as many authorities as possible to try to save human lives. I feel bad for them because they did everything possible and it still ended in a disaster.

      It wasn’t their fault the boat was ill maintained and lost power at a critical moment. The company can bear the cost.

    • CptOblivius@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      6
      ·
      3 months ago

      Don’t forget the workers lost as well. Not sure if that would have to go through different civil suits.

      • partial_accumen@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        8
        ·
        3 months ago

        Don’t forget the workers lost as well. Not sure if that would have to go through different civil suits.

        According to my reading of the article, assuming the limit is upheld, the worker’s families would be getting the money that comes out of this. The bridge and port would be the losers.