The Baltimore Bridge Collapse Probably Caused Billions in Damages. Who Owes What May Come Down to Ancient Laws from Greece
Maritime attorney Sean Pribyl was quoted in a CNN article about the potential role of ancient maritime laws in determining liability and damages following the recent cargo ship collision that destroyed Baltimore's Francis Scott Key Bridge. The article explored the origins of maritime law, which dates back to the Phoenicians and Greeks, and how these archaic legal principles could be applied to the Baltimore incident. Mr. Pribyl also noted the antiquity of maritime law, explaining that much of what is enshrined in international conventions and domestic legislation today developed from centuries of practice. The article additionally discussed specific maritime law concepts, such as general average and the Limitation of Liability Act of 1851, and their potential implications for the distribution of losses and compensation among the ship owner, cargo owners and affected businesses in the wake of the bridge collapse.
"It’s been thousands of years of vessels going to sea and carrying cargo or passengers. Over centuries and centuries of practice, maritime law developed its own codes, and those were enshrined in more recent international conventions and then domestic laws as well around the world,” he said.