Posted on June 30, 2016
By Matt Coyne, lohud
Tappan Zee Constructors will seek to limit its liability in the three lawsuits filed against it after the tugboat crash on the Hudson River in March.
An attorney for TZC, the consortium of contractors tasked with designing and building the new Tappan Zee Bridge, confirmed Tuesday that they did intend to seek the limitation. The parties were appearing at a pre-motion conference at White Plains federal court.
He declined to give further details.
In the early morning hours of March 12, the tugboat Specialist was accompanying a crane barge from Albany to Jersey City with two other tugs, the Realist and the Trevor, when it hit a barge containing materials for the new Tappan Zee Bridge. The tug sank, taking Paul Amon, Timothy Conklin and Harry Hernandez with it.
The families of the three men have since filed separate lawsuits against the constructors, consortium member Traylor Brothers, and the owners of the Specialist. The three lawsuits seek a total of $100 million, with plaintiffs seeking $10 million each from the defendants and Amon’s family suing for an additional $10 million from barge owners Weeks Marine.
The three cases are being litigated together as related matters.
During the conference, Caspar Ewig, attorney for Amon’s family, said the liability limitation would be pegged to the delay in construction related to raising the tug from the Hudson March 24.
New York Marine Towing is also seeking to limit its liability to $800,000. Included in its complaint, filed Monday, are two letters from Long Island-based Marine Surveyor Claudio Crivici valuing the post-crash Specialist — currently being stored in Newark — at $50,000 and the Realist, one of the other two tugs helping the barge down the river, at $750,000.
In March, Weeks Marine filed documents in federal court in Newark seeking to cap its liability at $1.5 million, said to be the value of the Trevor.
But attorneys for Amon’s family have argued that the filing was from “Weeks Marine as owner of the Trevor,” not Weeks Marine generally; therefore they argue the company can still be sued over the barge being transported and their alleged negligence.
Ewig, as one example, alleged the barge was “under powered” during its trip down the Hudson.
An attorney for the company said the limitation should hold.
Weeks Marine’s status will be determined at a later date.
Source: lohud
