A US judge has rejected a bid by families of crew members to secure a judgment before trial declaring that sunken El Faro was unseaworthy.
US District Judge Harvey Schlesinger of the US federal court in Jacksonville, Florida, ruled that there are still factual disputes over what caused the ship to lose propulsion during Hurricane Joaquin nearly a year ago.
He pointed to court affidavits submitted by lawyers for the ship’s owner, TOTE Maritime, claiming that the vessel was “fit for its intended purpose” and that its loss of propulsion was unforeseeable.
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