As teams from numerous government agencies opened up a channel for ships involved in the clean-up, the ship’s management company and the company that owns the container ship that rammed the bridge support causing the collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore filed a motion to cap their potential financial losses from lawsuits stemming from the disaster, the Associated Press reports.
Grace Ocean Private Ltd. Co., the owner of the ship, and Synergy Marine Group, which managed it, filed a “limitation of liability” petition seeking to cap combined damages at $43.6 million. The filing is in compliance with a pre-Civil War maritime law that allows shipping companies to file for a cap in damages when there’s a death caused while engaged in maritime trade. A court will ultimately decide who is liable for damages.
As the clean-up of the site goes on, the container ship, the MV Dali, remains at the site as crews start to use torches to cut through the remains of the bridge. The Dali’s crew has been aboard the ship since the accident, unable to leave the ship due to another longstanding maritime law. Technicians have also cleared a separate channel to be used only by ships involved in the clean-up effort; commercial traffic remains blocked.