Maine Maritime Museum looks to head off lawsuits over schooner capsizing
Courtesy / Maine Maritime Museum
The Mary E, built in 1906 as a fishing schooner, is owned and operated by the Maine Maritime Museum in Bath.
A month after its historic fishing schooner capsized and spilled 18 people into the Kennebec River, the Maine Maritime Museum expects to be sued over the incident and has already taken legal steps to insulate itself.
The 73-foot-long Mary E tipped over July 30 at around 5:30 p.m., while sailing on a routine public cruise near Doubling Point Lighthouse in Arrowsic. All 15 passengers and three crew were rescued, and two people received treatment at Mid Coast Hospital in Brunswick. Officials have not yet disclosed a cause for the mishap, and winds were modest at the time.
On Aug. 20, the Bath museum — which purchased the 115-year-old ship in 2017 — filed a complaint in U.S. District Court in Portland to limit the museum's liability in any potential lawsuits that result.
Although none had been filed, the complaint said, the museum “believes claim(s) will be asserted for personal injury, pain and suffering and other damages” and that the claims will exceed the value of the Mary E.
An 1851 U.S. maritime law limits the total liability of vessel owners for a casualty to the value of the vessel after the casualty occurs. Ship owners often invoke the law proactively to shield themselves from claims that may later arise.
In the court filing, the museum also said it was not responsible for “loss, damage, injury and destruction” in the capsize because it “used due diligence to make the subject vessel seaworthy and safe.”
Calls for more information to an attorney representing the Maine Maritime Museum were not immediately returned.
The Maine Maritime Museum purchased the Mary E for $140,000 and an appraisal submitted to the court last week estimated the current value at $150,000. The ship “sustained damages” in the knockdown, according to the documents, but was uprighted and taken to Derecktor Robinhood shipyard in Georgetown on Aug. 2.
The Mary E is a two-masted clipper schooner, built in Bath and the oldest Maine-constructed fishing schooner still in existence. After purchasing the ship, the museum launched a year-long restoration project, replacing the vessel’s frames, replanking the hull, overhauling the deck and making other improvements.
The Shipowners' Limitation of Liability Act has been used to defend against claims in numerous high-profile maritime casualties, ranging from the 2018 duck boat accident that killed 17 people in Missouri to the sinking of the RMS Titanic. After that 1912 disaster, owner White Star Lines was able to limit its financial liability to $92,000 — the value of the 14 lifeboats that survived.
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