XPost: misc.transport.marine, alt.fan.rush-limbaugh, md.politics
XPost: talk.politics.guns, sac.politics

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/ap-baltimore-singapore-maryland-dali- b2521721.html

The owner and manager of a cargo ship that rammed into Baltimore's Francis Scott Key Bridge before it collapsed last week filed a court petition
Monday seeking to limit their legal liability for the deadly disaster.

The companies' “limitation of liability” petition is a routine but
important procedure for cases litigated under U.S. maritime law. A federal court in Maryland ultimately decides who is responsible — and how much
they owe — for what could become one of the costliest catastrophes of its
kind.

Singapore-based Grace Ocean Private Ltd. owns the Dali, the vessel that
lost power before it slammed into the bridge early last Tuesday. Synergy
Marine Pte Ltd., also based in Singapore, is the ship's manager.

Their joint filing seeks to cap the companies' liability at roughly $43.6 million. It estimates that the vessel itself is valued at up to $90
million and was carrying freight worth over $1.1 million in income for the companies. The estimate also deducts 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 seek to limit their liability to the value of the vessel's remains after a casualty. It's a mechanism that has been employed
as a defense in many of the most notable maritime disasters, said James Mercante, a New York City-based attorney with over 30 years of experience
in maritime law.

“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, surpassing the record of about $1.5 billion held 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 millions of dollars in
lost labor income alone over the next month.

Experts say the cost to rebuild the collapsed bridge could be at least
$400 million or as much as twice that, though much will depend on the new design.

The amount of money families can generally be awarded for wrongful death
claims in maritime law cases is subject to several factors, including how
much the person would have likely provided in financial support to their
family if they had not died, funeral expenses.

Generally, wrongful death damages may also include things like funeral
expenses and the “loss of nurture,” which is essentially the monetary
value assigned to whatever more, spiritual or practical guidance the
victim would have been able to provide to their children.


--
We live in a time where intelligent people are being silenced so that
stupid people won't be offended.

Durham Report: The FBI has an integrity problem. It has none.

No collusion - Special Counsel Robert Swan Mueller III, March 2019.
Officially made Nancy Pelosi a two-time impeachment loser.

Thank you for cleaning up the disaster of the 2008-2017 Obama / Biden
fiasco, President Trump.

Under Barack Obama's leadership, the United States of America became the
The World According To Garp. Obama sold out heterosexuals for Hollywood
queer liberal democrat donors.

President Trump boosted the economy, reduced illegal invasions, appointed dozens of judges and three SCOTUS justices.

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