Grimaldi Group is pointing to a Jeep Wrangler as the possible cause of a fire that erupted on a ro-ro vessel in early July off New Jersey that led to the death of two Newark firefighters.
The Grimaldi Deep Sea-operated, 3,950-lane-metre Grande Costa d’Avorio (built 2011) sustained an extensive fire on its upper levels on 5 July while stevedores were finishing loading 1,200 used cars and 157 containers.
American Maritime Services (AMS), a Newark, New Jersey-based stevedoring service, filed a petition in New Jersey district court on 1 August asking that the Jeep, a Toyota and the ship’s firefighting equipment be left as is until AMS can conduct its own inspection.
In a response that opposed the petition, Grimaldi Group singled out the Jeep, which was pushing a non-running Toyota, as the possible origin of the blaze, which is being investigated by several federal agencies.
“Why the Jeep burst into flames is under investigation, but preliminary evidence indicates that transmission oil boiled over and came into contact with the Jeep’s hot engine or exhaust components, igniting the fire,” Grimaldi Group said in its 35-page response.
“The result was catastrophic as the fire spread to nearby vehicles. Despite the efforts of the vessel’s well-trained officers and crew, the fire intensified and rapidly moved to other decks of the ship.”
AMS, which operated the Jeep, filed the petition with the intent of gathering fire evidence and deposing crew members in case it faced future lawsuits related to the fire.
Grimaldi Group opposed the petition on the basis that AMS has already inspected the fire-damaged ship and cannot hold up 16 crew members “like prisoners” for deposition before they return home overseas.
The company also argued that AMS should not be able to depose the crew members before other possible claimants file lawsuits against AMS or any other parties.
“AMS, a party without a direct claim or a loss to date, does not get to jump ahead of all the other potential claimants, who might not have even retained counsel yet, to take depositions now, and thereby disrupt the normal discovery process that will ensue after lawsuits and claims are commenced,” Grimaldi Group said in its response.
“The relief AMS seeks in its petition is unnecessary and terribly unfair to everyone who will file suit in the future because their interest will not be fairly represented by AMS, which has a primary interest in protecting itself.”
This story has been amended since publication to reflect that American Maritime Services operated the Jeep Wrangler.
