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Towboat owners seek exoneration from damage

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By Dustin Lemmon | Wednesday, May 07, 2008 |

The owners of two towboats that tried to prevent barges from crashing into two bridges near Burlington, Iowa, last week have filed court action in Rock Island, asking to be exonerated of any wrongdoing.

Bruce and Bette Lynn, owners of Matteson Marine Service, Inc., of Burlington, filed the complaint for exoneration, or limitation of liability, this week in U.S. District Court, Central District of Illinois.

They are asking the court to order anyone claiming damage from the break away to provide “due proof of their respective claims” and appear in court.

The complaint also asks a judge to find the company “not liable to any extent for any loss, damage, expense or injury, nor for any claims whatsoever in any way arising out of or in any consequence of the aforesaid incidents.” It further claims the company and owners are entitled to a decree of exoneration.

According to the filing, both owners were operating towboats near Gulf Port, Ill., tending to a fleet that included five barges that broke loose from their moorings and moved down river.

The runaway barges caused damage to other barges and barge cargo, the court record states. They may also have damaged the Highway 34 Bridge and Burlington Railroad Bridge, the filing adds.

Each owner secured at least one barge and tried to prevent them from making impact with the bridges but were unsuccessful, the court complaint states.

The incident occurred without the fault or knowledge of Bruce and Bette Lynn, the complaint claims.

According to the filing, no legal action has been taken so far against the towboat

owners.

— Dustin Lemmon