The owner of a container ship that destroyed a Baltimore bridge and industry insurers hired a Washington lobbying firm because of fears of damaging changes to US liability laws, government documents show.
Singapore-registered Grace Ocean paid about $20,000 to Washington-based Blank Rome Government Relations (BRGR) for four months of work to attend hearings and track investigations into the disaster in March, according to lobbying disclosures received by the US Congress.
The International Group of Protection and Indemnity Clubs, which represents the 12 big clubs and nearly 90% of ocean-going shipping, also retained the firm.
The maritime insurance sector has been watching nervously to see if political outrage over the final bill for the disaster will lead to an erosion of the rights for shipowners that have existed for nearly two centuries in the US.
The 9,962-teu Dali (built 2015) struck the Francis Scott Key Bridge in March, bringing down a large section of the structure.
Six maintenance workers died and the waterway was blocked for weeks, affecting trade out of the port of Baltimore.
Grace Ocean and operator Synergy Marine went to court within a week of the disaster to try to limit their liabilities for the crash to about $44m, relying on a 173-year-old US law.
The city of Baltimore and a series of other claimants oppose the attempt to limit liability with total losses estimated at up to $4bn.
The US government has filed a $103m claim and the families of the dead maintenance workers have also brought wrongful death claims.
Businesses and cargo interests also brought claims before Tuesday’s deadline.
BRGR’s work for Grace Ocean included monitoring hearings, reporting on issues related to funding for bridge reconstruction and tracking the state of the casualty investigations, the documents show.
It also included a request to “monitor and report on legislation pertaining to the bridge accident at the Port of Baltimore and proposed changes to the Limitation on Liability Act of 1851”.
The company’s work for Grace Ocean ended on 9 September, according to the documents.
BRGR told TradeWinds it had represented the international group since 9 August “to advocate on its behalf and that of its shipowner members in connection with proposed legislation to amend the US Shipowner’s Limitation of Liability Act”.
The original 1851 law aimed to ensure that investors in shipping would not be deterred because of the risk of facing enormous liability owing to the actions of crews.
But US congressman John Garamendi has sought to raise the liability limits for foreign-flagged ships — and backdate the legislation to the Dali disaster — which would increase the liability cap in the case of the Dali to $854m.
James Mercante, a US maritime lawyer, said that the US presidential election would likely halt the progress of the planned legislation and it was unclear if it would come back under a new administration in 2025.
BRGR said that the international group had been involved in discussions for more than a decade at the IMO about liability limits and “looks forward to similar engagement with the US Congress, facilitated by BRGR”.
BRGR staff expected to work on the contract included former government officials David Jansen and Steven Wall, according to the documents. Jansen oversaw budgets for maritime agencies, while Wall was general counsel to a Senate transport committee.
Blank Rome’s law practice is also representing Grace Ocean in the limitation of liability case. Lawyer William Bennett is a leading US litigator of complex marine casualty cases in the US.
If the companies are unsuccessful in limiting their liability, the Dali’s P&I club, Britannia, will shoulder the first $10m and the clubs’ pooling arrangement for major losses would account for the next $90m, with the reinsurers set for the rest.
The potential cost from the disaster is already likely to lead to a large jump in reinsurance premiums next year, according to brokers.
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