Per Maritime Law, the ship owner and charterers are limited in the amount of their liability. In the United States, the limit, except as to claims for personal injury and wrongful death, is the value of the ship and the earnings of the voyage on which it was engaged at the time of the casualty.
The basic condition is that the party asserting it must be free from "privity or knowledge" in the words of the United States statute. The ship owner is entitled to limit his liability for the negligence of the master or crew, but not for his own personal negligence or the decisions of management personnel.
In other words... what is the value of that ship and cargo?
Since the cargo was containers full of trash... virtually zero value.
The ship may be worth $10 Million to $20 Million at most.
The bridge will likely cost over $1.5 Billion to replace. Per Maritime Law, as it applies to the U.S., since this wasn't a planned incident and it wasn't company negligence... the extent of their liability is the value of the ship.
Of course, the families of everyone who died can now sue the shipping company for Tens of $Millions each... and the city of Baltimore can try to sue the shipping company for shutting down the port and disrupting businesses... but that may fall under the limited liability.
They don't want ME on that jury. I would award every wrongful death $100 Million, and every injury $50 Million. The shipping company and their insurance carrier wouldn't get off with just the value of the ship.
Per Maritime Law, the ship owner and charterers are limited in the amount of their liability. In the United States, the limit, except as to claims for personal injury and wrongful death, is the value of the ship and the earnings of the voyage on which it was engaged at the time of the casualty.
The basic condition is that the party asserting it must be free from "privity or knowledge" in the words of the United States statute. The ship owner is entitled to limit his liability for the negligence of the master or crew, but not for his own personal negligence or the decisions of management personnel.
In other words... what is the value of that ship and cargo?
Since the cargo was containers full of trash... virtually zero value. The ship may be worth $10 Million to $20 Million at most.
The bridge will likely cost over $1.5 Billion to replace. Per Maritime Law, as it applies to the U.S., since this wasn't a planned incident and it wasn't company negligence... the extent of their liability is the value of the ship.
Of course, the families of everyone who died can now sue the shipping company for Tens of $Millions each... and the city of Baltimore can try to sue the shipping company for shutting down the port and disrupting businesses... but that may fall under the limited liability.
They don't want ME on that jury. I would award every wrongful death $100 Million, and every injury $50 Million. The shipping company and their insurance carrier wouldn't get off with just the value of the ship.
Thanks for the information. Great info here.
Appreciate you.