‘That can’t possibly be true’: The $4bn marine insurance question left hanging over Baltimore bridge disaster
Paul Peachey
It’s a $4bn question — so don’t expect a quick answer.
A battle is likely to play out for years in a courtroom in Baltimore, Maryland, to decide if the owner and operator of a container ship that destroyed a city bridge is liable for $44m — or somewhere in the region of $4bn.
Legal experts say the dispute may have a greater significance than even the vast sums at stake in the case of the 9,962-teu Dali (built 2015), which brought down a bridge, left six construction workers dead and closed down one of the biggest US ports.
The maritime insurance sector is watching anxiously to see whether public and political outrage over the potential final bills faced by shipping, insurers and the American taxpayer will lead to an erosion of the rights for shipowners that have existed for nearly two centuries in the US.