Dr Franziska Arnold Dwyer speaks to the New York Times about who's liable for the Francis Scott Key Bridge collapse in Baltimore.
Image by 12019 from Pixabay
Disputes over liability and the cost of claims could take years for insurers to resolve and result in billions of dollars in payouts. Claims against the ship’s owner and manager must be filed to the federal court in Baltimore by Sept. 24, a judge said.
Experts in maritime law and insurance said determining liability was particularly complex because of the many parties involved, from shipowners in Asia to insurers in Europe to companies around the world that move goods in and out of Baltimore. Numerous lawsuits are expected, and the six deaths caused by the disaster add a grim layer of complications.
“You can’t just necessarily settle with one party and make it go away,” said Franziska Arnold-Dwyer, a Senior Lecturer in Insurance Law at Queen Mary University of London.