Tug firm asks $6 million for aiding stricken ferry
Published 9:00 pm Friday, December 12, 2003
NEW YORK — The owners of the tugboat Dorothy J. want the city to pay them $6 million for rescuing victims of the Staten Island Ferry crash — prompting a mayoral aide to suggest the company "leave New York City."
Henry Marine Service Inc. filed suit under federal admiralty law Wednesday, claiming the tug’s crew took "control of the drifting and imperiled ferry" and prevented "panicked passengers from jumping into the waters" of New York harbor.
"It’s disgraceful to charge the city for saving lives," said Jordan Barowitz, a spokesman for Mayor Michael Bloomberg. "The company should leave New York City."
Henry Marine’s lawyer, James Mercante, said the Staten Island-based company, which already gets $191,200 a year from the city for moving out-of-service ferries and oil barges, deserves the extra money for saving the $14.4 million ferry.
The suit came as a federal court in Brooklyn imposed a March 10 deadline for people to file claims stemming from the Oct. 15 crash, which killed 10 and injured dozens of others.
In a notice signed Thursday, the clerk of the court asked claimants to file by that date as part of a special proceeding requested by the city to limit its liability for the accident. Failure to file a timely claim will result in a default, the two-page notice stated.
Crash victims have filed about $2 billion in claims. Henry Marine is the only company to sue, city officials said.
Mercante said the Dorothy J. was moored nearby when the crew saw the ferry slam into a section of the pier. The quick-thinking captain began a rescue operation immediately, Mercante said.
"The vessel was spinning and drifting in the direction of the Verrazano Bridge," he said. "The crew assisted the ferry back into the slip and acted expeditiously and promptly, saving lives and saving the vessel from further loss and damage."
Earlier this month, the city filed an action under a 152-year-old provision of the federal maritime law to limit its liability to the value of the ferry.
