A giant container ship crashed into and destroy the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore last month, killing six people and closing one of America’s busiest ports in process. The company that operates the ship is currently looking for ways not to have to pay for it the colossal task of mining ship in distress and repair damaged bridge.
935 feet Container ship Dali crashes into Baltimore bridge on March 26 and since then, the ship has been stuck in place. Since the ship hit the bridge, discussions have centered around who should pay to refloat the boat and repair the Francis Scott Key Bridge, one of the busiest river crossings in the area.
The company that owns the giant container ship previously tried to issue one ancient maritime law to limit the amount of compensation it must pay. Now, the company is looking to shippers to offset some of the salvage costs, reports CBS News. According to the website:
This declaration, also known as a general average declaration, comes into effect after serious maritime incidents to help offset high recovery costs.
Allen Black, maritime lawyer at Mills Black LLP, explains the significance of this statement.
“The classic general average cost is salvage costs, which is what we’re seeing in Baltimore. Before that ship moves and cargo can continue to move, the bridge has to be removed from it and the ship has to be towed back to the dock,” Allen said.
To determine how much a shipper must pay for recovery efforts, Dali first needs to be extracted from underneath the Key Bridge. Once this is done, the ship will return to port in Baltimore, where investigators will unload the cargo and assess the value of everything on board, CBS News reported.
The 4,000 containers on board will be assessed by independent investigators, who will then bill freight companies for the amount they are owed for rescue efforts.
However, the costs recovered from freight companies are expected to be much lower than the costs incurred through boat exploitation and repair needed on the bridge. Those costs are estimated to rise from $400 million to a staggering $2 billion, The Hill reports.
The federal government will shoulder most of that cost, the site reported.
