Posted on 03/28/2024 11:05:06 AM PDT by ChicagoConservative27
Maryland lawmakers are expecting the federal government to cover the lion’s share of the cost of the collapse and subsequent rebuilding of Baltimore’s Francis Scott Key Bridge — with Congress potentially on the hook for only a fraction of the total as talk about an emergency supplemental bill increases.
Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) told reporters that roughly 90 percent of the bridge’s reconstruction will be paid for via the Federal Highway Administration’s emergency fund, which has about $950 million and is replenished yearly with $100 million. The state sent a letter to the federal government Wednesday saying it will look to use money from that fund to pay for that process.
What work Congress will need to do on this subject remains unclear because Van Hollen and other Maryland members are awaiting a full recovery cost assessment before they make any asks of colleagues.
“They’re doing that assessment right now,” Van Hollen told reporters on Capitol Hill. “I don’t know exactly when, but I assume it will be in the coming days. It will be a rough estimate.”
(Excerpt) Read more at thehill.com ...
What’s actually being said—
“Maryland senator-—Tax payers paying for bridge that brain dead says he’s paying for....”
I knew it before the announcement.
I felt the pain in my wallet.
bullcrap! insurance companies should be paying not US taxpayers!
Bet they rename the bridge after deceased Representative Elijah Cummings, who represented the criminal $hithole of Baltimore all those years.
How dare you. Politicians, and their big donors can't make any money on the side if they do it that way.
Obama will find a way to have his name on the bridge. He still needs a legacy.
Bridge will get a fancy name.
But there’s around 7 or 8 dead Hispanic guys...the pothole crew who were on the bridge when it collapsed. You know that they have to have a statue made up....probably 8 Hispanic guys with shovels...on ground next to the bridge.
Why are RAT politicians so eager to throw in the American taxpayers the burden of rebuilding the bridge?
This is from CNN:
The massive cargo ship crash into Baltimore’s Francis Scott Key Bridge will likely lead to billions of dollars in liability claims. Marine insurance companies will be on the hook for much of the costs.
With various owners and companies involved – and with some maritime laws predating even the Titanic sinking – untangling the web, figuring out who owes what, and addressing the damages from both lives lost and to physical structures will be complex.
“This claim has the potential to be north of a billion dollars,” said John Miklus, the president of the American Institute of Marine Underwriters. “Litigation will run years.”
Analysts at Barclays, meanwhile, estimate total cost of insurance claims from the disaster could be as high as $3 billion.
Insurers footing the bill
The Dali ship is owned by Grace Ocean Private, a Singapore-based company, and insured by the Britannia Protection and Indemnity Club.
Britannia is one of the dozen marine insurance member clubs under the International Group of P&I Clubs, a consortium that provides marine liability coverage for 90% of ocean freight and pools liability claims among members. (The International Group of P&I Clubs did not respond to CNN’s request for comment.)
These insurance companies are backed by insurance companies of their own – a type of business known as a reinsurer.
Around 80 different reinsurers provide around $3 billion in coverage to the Dali’s insurers, according to Moody’s analyst Brendan Holmes. Since the losses will be spread across so many insurers, it’s unlikely to bankrupt any of the companies or cause a major bump in insurance prices, he said.
Miklus told CNN that these P&I insurance clubs collectively pool losses, but they also buy “an extensive reinsurance program.”
“So, when we start talking about losses of a billion or more, this is being spread through the whole global reinsurance market,” Miklus added.
How much will the rebuilding cost?
It’s still too early to know the final bill for damages and rebuilding.
The bridge alone could be worth more than $1.2 billion, said Loretta Worters, a spokesperson for the Insurance Information Institute. Then there will almost certainly be large liability suits, medical costs for survivors, clean-up costs, and more, she added.
Damage and losses to cars and clean-up from the debris and reconstruction will also factor into the total, Worters said.
Miklus cited the roughly $1.5 billion insurance payout after the Costa Concordia cruise ship was grounded on an island off Italy in 2012 as one of the highest insurance claims in recent memory. “I would expect this one would rival that kind of claim in terms of total cost,” he said.
The potential cost of insurance claims from the bridge collapse could be between $1 billion and $3 billion, analysts at Barclays wrote in a note Wednesday.
Claims for damage to the bridge alone could be some $1.2 billion, the analysts said, with wrongful death liabilities likely totaling between $350 to $700 million. The analysts also expected some to-be-determined business interruption claims.
Dali owner could invoke century-old law
While Dali is owned by Grace Ocean Private, it was chartered by Danish shipping giant Maersk when it plowed into the bridge early Tuesday morning.
When it comes to maritime law, “all the liability ends up with the ship owner, which will be the Singaporean company,” said Martin Davies, the director of the Maritime Law Center at Tulane University. “Maersk, the Danish company that has all the cargo on board the vessel, is not liable,” Davies added.
It is an interstate highway so any doubt that the federal government was / is not going to pay90+% of the cost was / is a forgone conclusion.
left over Obama shovel ready jobs money?
From the cheap seats...
Why?
All in one sentence:
“federal government to cover the lion’s share of the cost of the collapse...”
“Congress potentially on the hook for only a fraction of the total...”
Does not compute.
Unless they are implying that the federal government is a separate entity from Congress AND has a separate source of income.
You think you're financially off the hook just because you live in a red state?
Those hispanic guys were illegals, and had they not violated our immigration laws, they wouldn't have been here, and might still be alive.
A bridge to nowhere.
How about the dead have no “Standing”, but I GUARANTEE their “families” will cash in, on Taxpayer’s dime, as ALWAYS....some ambulance-chasers will pocket MILLIONS of taxpayer dollars....THAT is what Illegals bring us.
How about the dead have no “Standing”, but I GUARANTEE their “families” will cash in, on Taxpayer’s dime, as ALWAYS....some ambulance-chasers will pocket MILLIONS of taxpayer dollars....THAT is what Illegals bring us.
You’re absolutely right. Illegal’s families will prosper while Ashli Babbitt’s mother will get no justice.
Why would I as a federal taxpayer want to pick up the tab on something that was an insurable event and not an “Act of God?” This makes no sense except that some like to spend other people’s money.
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