Barge owner blames the weather for drifting vessel collision at Buckroe Beach pier, says it is not liable.
Blame it on coastal Virginia’s extreme weather.
The owner of a barge that broke free of its moorings, set adrift and slammed into a Hampton pier last year says it is not liable for the damage.
In a complaint filed in May in federal court, the Soggy Bottom Corporation, as owner and Coastal Design & Construction, as the barge operator, petitioned the court to determine whether the company should be held liable. The company asked the court to “exonerate” or limit its liability from the Nov. 17 incident.
On that day “due to an unforeseen extreme weather incident ... the barge ... was caused to break free from its moorings and caused to drift approximately one mile before striking the Buckroe Beach Fishing Pier ... resultant losses and damage were not caused by or contributed by any fault, neglect or negligence (of the company),” according to court documents.
Hampton is seeking $1.2 million to cover damages to the 709-feet James T. Wilson Fishing Pier and an Observation pier. A portion of the fishing pier at Buckroe Beach sank into the Chesapeake Bay after the 32-ton barge crashed into it.
Hampton wants the complaint dismissed because the company did not take the necessary precautions to secure the barge despite alerts of a storm “expected to intensify over the weekend.”
The company says the barge was moored in a coastal flood warning zone and was “rigged” for strong winds prior to the storm, but the weather exceeded that forecast.
In March, Hampton hired a contractor and used its cash reserves to repair the popular fishing site, which reopened Saturday.
The city says the Gloucester-based company is responsible to cover the cost of the damage because it had a contract with them to do dredging work at the Salt Ponds Inlet, roughly two miles north of Buckroe Beach. Coastal was awarded the $2.3 million job in 2019.
In a response in August, Hampton said its contract with Coastal mandated the company assumed “the entire responsibility and liable for any and all damages to persons or property caused by or resulting from or arising out of any act or omission on the part of contractor, its subcontractors, agents or employees under or in connection with this contract,” court documents say.
The company says if it is liable for anything, it only should be for the value of the barge, which is $85,000, according to a marine surveyor with Dufour, Laskay & Strouse, Inc.
Attempts to reach attorneys representing Soggy Bottom and Coastal Design & Construction for additional comment were unsuccessful.
Hampton also has been communicating directly with Coastal Design’s insurer and is finalizing the claim for submission, city spokesman Fred Gaskins said in an email.
Coastal’s work on the Salt Pond jetties called for replacing a 512-rock jetty on the south side of the inlet, a 110-foot rock spur off of the north jetty, and 300 feet of sand tightening along the north rock jetty. The company also had been dredging the channel at the city-owned inlet. T
Lisa Vernon Sparks, 757-247-4832, lvernonsparks@dailypress.com
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