Railroads are bound by US law. Steamship lines are bound by international law.Seems to me a Rail Road company that had an ugly derailment is going to pay out a lot of money. So tell them to cough up. I understand fixing and building infrastructure in this country. If you or I cause a bad accident and 6 people die, we won’t get off Scott free.
There is a list of multiple events which absolve carriers of liability as it relates to property damage both cargo and infrastructure.. Countries with commerce are aware of these laws and sign off on it. A computer failure that shuts down the ship would probably fall under you cannot touch me. A drunk crew, you can probably sue them.
For containers that are damaged or lost from this accident the carrier is not liable. They will do a General Average. Anyone with cargo on the ship will share the cost of loss of goods and reimburse the cost to companies that lost cargo. Well the importer/exporter's insurance company will.
Oh, It's a pain in the butt to file GA paperwork with the carriers.
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