Baltimore Bridge Collapse: owners of cargo ship say 'ain't our fault!'

[thewayne]

Uh, yeah! That bridge came out of nowhere! Clearly it had been drinking!

The two outfits that own the Dali filed a court claim stating that the bridge collapse “was not due to any fault, neglect, or want of care on the part of Petitioners, the Vessel, or any persons or entities for whose acts Petitioners may be responsible.”. Also that a 19th century maritime law limits their liability to the value of the ship involved in the collision, $42.5million US.

Yeah, pull the other one, it has bells on it.

Considering the ship had previously been involved in collisions and previous reports of power loss, somehow I don't think that's going to hold up after investigation.

https://gizmodo.com/owners-of-cargo-ship-behind-baltimore-bridge-collapse-1851380182

Comments

[kathmandu]

There are complicated arrangements to do with cargo ships; I deal with them a little in my work.

Mostly the shipping lines own vessels directly, BUT shipping lines exist as more than one entity; often there's Shipping Line GmBH/SSA/LTD in some other country, with a US subsidiary to deal with US customers.

They have formed alliances, so you can book with Maersk or MSC or Zim and it will be the same vessels they're all sharing. I don't know if this extends to sharing liability for disasters; presumably just one company is responsible for operating and staffing a given vessel.