Operators in Fatal Duck Boat Accident Say They Owe Families Nothing, Citing Obscure 1851 Law

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BRANSON MO NEWS: Two companies that operated the Missouri tourist boat that sank during a storm in July, killing 17 people, have invoked a 19th century federal maritime law to claim that they owe no money to the victims’ family members who have filed multiple lawsuits.The operators, Ripley Entertainment and Branson Duck Vehicles, filed a lawsuit in federal court on Monday, seeking to take advantage of an 1851 law that could limit their financial liability to the duck boat’s value after the crash and any cargo that was on board. The vessel, which sank to the bottom of Table Rock Lake in Branson, Mo., is now worthless and had no freight, so the companies owe $0, their lawyers argued.While shipowners routinely seek such protections in accidents and the families’ lawyers anticipated the legal maneuver, the filing by the companies angered survivors and the victims’ family members. Tia Coleman, who escaped the sinking boat but who lost nine relatives, including her husband and three children, said that she was insulted and called for a boycott of Ripley Entertainment, which operates numerous tourist attractions, including Ripley’s Believe It or Not.“Ripley’s legal claim that my husband and children are worthless is incredibly hurtful and insensitive,” Ms. Coleman, who has filed lawsuits seeking $100 million in damages, said in a statement.A lawyer representing her, Robert J. Mongeluzzi, said he would file a response in court arguing that the maritime law does not apply in this case. It has been cited after high-profile accidents throughout American history, including in lawsuits involving the sinking of the Titanic and the Deepwater Horizon oil rig disaster in the Gulf of Mexico.“They are saying that the lives that they killed are worthless,” Mr. Mongeluzzi said in an interview on Thursday. “As you might imagine, it has been incredibly …



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