Federal courts will soon consider a complicated balance of dollars and facts, with a network of insurance companies expected to foot at least some of the bill.
ByThe race to remove the wreckage from last week's collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge.in Maryland is a multi-layered tragedy: For the families and friends of those killed or presumed dead, it's a profound and personal loss. For businesses that rely on the Port of Baltimore, it's an economic nightmare.
A report from credit rating agency Morningstar DBRS predicts the 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.WHAT ARE THE LEGAL CLAIMS?
Attorney Thomas Schoenbaum, a maritime law expert and professor at the University of Washington, said despite significant economic damages, impacted businesses will not be able to sue the ship's owners and operators. Charm City Warehouse owner Bernard Sommer, whose Baltimore-based business serves shipping companies needing to store cargo containers, expects to sustain heavy losses as long as ships are being diverted to other ports.
"If the building caught on fire and we weren't able to operate, or something like that happened? Yeah, that's covered. But I don't know if something like this is covered," he said. "It's hard to tell. When you sign up for insurance, they give you one page of everything they cover. And that is followed by 45 pages of everything they're not going to cover."
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