Insurer in Baltimore bridge collapse seeks millions in reimbursement
Ace American Insurance Co. paid the $350 million property claim to Maryland and now requests compensation.
An insurance company has filed a claim for more than $350 million in reimbursement for coverage of the total loss of the ship-wrecked Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore, a March 26 collapse that killed six and injured two maintenance workers and has prompted lawsuits from surviving family members.
Ace American Insurance Co. paid the $350 million property insurance claim to Maryland and now requests equal compensation plus interest from the owner and manager of the cargo ship that struck and destroyed the Key Bridge, according to a claim Cozen O’Connor filed Friday on behalf of Ace.
Counsel for the eight workers injured or killed in the collapse also filed claims or formal court responses on Friday seeking to hold Grace Ocean Private Ltd. and Synergy Marine Group liable.
Grace Ocean owns the Singapore-flagged Dali ship that slammed into the Key Bridge, while Synergy is the vessel manager, according to the National Transportation Safety Board.
Six days after the bridge collapsed into the Patapsco River, Duane Morris and Blank Rome — on behalf of Grace Ocean and Synergy — filed a petition in Maryland federal court seeking exoneration or limited liability for any losses or damage caused by the deadly incident.
Brawner Builders Inc. employed the six workers killed and one of the men injured in the bridge collapse.
“This fatal and costly disaster could and should have been avoided,” stated a claim filed by White and Williams on behalf of Brawner and Zurich American Insurance Co. “This catastrophic event resulted in the deaths of six Brawner workers and serious and permanent injuries to a seventh worker and halted all commercial traffic into and out of the Port of Baltimore.”
Zurich provides workers’ compensation insurance to Brawner and has paid more than $38,000 toward medical bills and indemnity benefits for the surviving employee, according to the joint claim filed by Brawner and Zurich.
Dorlian Cabrera, Carlos Estrella, Alejandro Fuentes, Jose Lopez, Miguel Luna Sr. and Maynor Sandoval were killed and Julio Cervantes Suarez is the Brawner employee who survived with “serious and permanent injuries,” the claim added.
Cervantes Suarez plunged into the “frigid water” of the Patapsco River while seated inside his truck when the bridge collapsed, according to a claim filed by Bruce Plaxen of Plaxen Adler Muncy on behalf of Cervantes Suarez. The worker escaped from a window of the submerged vehicle and “miraculously managed with all of his strength and determination to wade to a nearby pile of concrete, where he was later rescued,” according to the claim.
Cervantes Suarez and his wife, Marisela Hernandez Salgado, seek damages for alleged pain and suffering and loss of consortium.
Plaxen also filed claims seeking punitive damages on behalf of the estates of Estrella, Fuentes, Lopez and Luna, four of the six men killed in the incident, according to the case docket. The estates allege Grace Ocean and Synergy “recklessly crashed an unseaworthy cargo vessel into the Francis Scott Key Bridge.”
Gupta Wessler also represents the families of Lopez and Luna, plus the estate of Cabrera.
Nicholas Katz, general counsel for advocacy organization CASA, and Gupta Wessler principal Matt Wessler filed a claim on Friday on behalf of Cabrera’s family.
“The Dali had a well-recorded history of severe and dangerous vessel vibration issues, which directly affected its electrical system and rendered the vessel entirely unseaworthy,” CASA alleged in the claim. “These defects were known to Petitioners before departure for Sri Lanka, but they departed anyway.”
The Law Offices of Matt Simmons represents the estate of Sandoval and demanded a trial by jury in a formal answer to the petition filed by Dali’s owner and vessel manager.
Sandoval’s surviving wife, children and mother allege Grace Ocean and Synergy had “privity and knowledge of the unseaworthiness of the vessel” and therefore are not entitled to any exoneration or limitation of liability.
Murphy, Falcon & Murphy represents Damon Davis, an inspector employed by Eborn Enterprises who survived the bridge collapse.
Davis “escaped unharmed” from the fatal incident, according to an NTSB preliminary report issued in May. Counsel for Davis, however, say their client is a claimant who suffered “injuries” caused by the Dali slamming into the bridge.
Murphy Falcon associate Ronald E. Richardson demanded a jury trial in the answer he filed Friday to the Singapore companies’ joint petition.
The U.S. Department of Justice and Baltimore’s city officials also seek damages in the bridge collapse, among other parties.
The Dali lost electrical power about 10 hours before leaving Baltimore Harbor and then experienced two electrical blackouts before crashing into a Key Bridge pier, according to the NTSB’s preliminary report on May 14.
Maryland had property insurance coverage for the Key Bridge and collected the maximum $350 million under the policy after the iconic structure collapsed, according to the claim Cozen O’Connor filed on behalf of Ace demanding full reimbursement plus interest from Grace Ocean and Synergy.
Anyone seeking to file claims against the Dali’s owner and vessel manager must file claims before Tuesday’s deadline. The U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland will decide whether to grant or deny a petition for exoneration from or limitation of liability sought by the Singapore-based companies.
The petition filed by Duane Morris and Blank Rome seeks to limit liability to about $44 million.
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