Investigators are focusing on two vehicles out of 1,200 vehicles as part of their probe into a fire that erupted on a Grimaldi Group-owned ro-ro vessel in early July while it was being loaded in New Jersey’s Port Newark.
A blaze erupted on Grimaldi Deep Sea’s 3,950-lane-metre Grande Costa d’Avorio (built 2011) on 5 July while stevedores were finishing the loading of 1,200 used vehicles and 157 containers onto the ship.
Investigators hired by Newark-based stevedoring service American Maritime Services (AMS) have requested that a Jeep “pusher vehicle” and a Toyota “non-runner vehicle” that was being pushed by the Jeep be “preserved and made available for inspection”, according to documents filed on 1 August with the US District Court of New Jersey.
The investigators — Carl Dolente and Adam Goodman of Columbus, Ohio-based Sea Consulting — also asked for access to numerous other items on the ship, such as fire pumps, heat and smoke detectors and firefighting equipment.
They did not state why they wanted to inspect the two vehicles. Calls to Sea Consulting and John Karpousis, an attorney with law firm Freehill Hogan & Mahar who represents AMS, were not immediately returned.
AMS filed a 27-page petition with the court on 1 August asking Grimaldi Group to preserve the ship’s fire-damaged condition so AMS can fully inspect the ship and firefighting equipment before it is repaired.
AMS also requested that Grimaldi Group make available the ship’s remaining 16 crewmembers for a deposition regarding the fire incident, given 12 crewmembers have already returned to their homes overseas, according to documents.
AMS wants to inspect the ship before repairs and before the remaining crew leaves the US so it can gather evidence to prove that it did not cause the fire, should it face future lawsuits.
“AMS seeks production of documents, inspections of the vessel, and the depositions of crewmembers to preserve evidence that may support its defences demonstrating that AMS was not responsible for the fire or subsequent losses arising from the fire,” according to court documents.
“AMS also seeks to preserve any relevant evidence that may determine whether the vessel should bear any percentage of fault for failure to extinguish the fire for six days.”
Grimaldi Group provided limited access to the ship and related documents in the weeks following the fire by not producing all required documents and denying access to the remaining crew, documents stated.
The owner said it would continue with repairs and salvage plans while allowing AMS to visually inspect the ship’s top four decks and “CO2 room”, according to documents.
“[Coast Guard] investigation and salvor’s work takes priority over the AMS and Ports America’s desire to obtain prelitigation discovery,” Grimaldi Group said, according to documents.
“If your goal is to view the vessel before the vehicles and debris are cleared, then we suggest a return visit as soon as possible.”
Grimaldi Group also said that further repairs to the ship will likely occur “somewhere in the Mediterranean”, documents stated.
