Singaporean firm whose ship took down the Baltimore bridge just cited an 1851 maritime law to cap liability at $44 million
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.
A report from credit rating agency Morningstar DBRS predicts the bridge collapse could become the most expensive marine insured loss in history, $2 billion to $4 billion.
Cases like this typically take years to completely resolve, said Martin Davies, director of Tulane University Law School’s Maritime Law Center.
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