Loose barge struck Tacoma waterfront restaurant. Here’s what happened with the lawsuit
An insurance company’s lawsuit against the owner and operator of a crane-carrying barge that smacked into a Tacoma waterfront restaurant during a 2020 windstorm has been dismissed by the involved parties, court records show.
The suit alleged that Seattle-based Foss Maritime Co., LLC and Everett-based Nordholm Companies, Inc. failed to assure that the barge was properly secured before it drifted against the shore and struck Katie Downs Waterfront Tavern on Sept. 7, 2020, causing “substantial damage” to the eatery’s building.
Continental Western Insurance Co., which made payments to the restaurant to cover damages, filed suit in late August in Pierce County Superior Court.
The complaint was dismissed Nov. 2 “without costs or attorneys’ fees to any party,” according to a filing signed by attorneys for the plaintiff and defendant Foss Maritime Co.
Court records didn’t indicate what agreement might have been struck between the parties.
Legal counsel for the insurance company didn’t return messages seeking details on the dismissal. An attorney representing Foss Maritime Co. declined to comment when reached by phone.
At the time that high winds snapped lines securing the barge, the barge was carrying an SSA Terminals-owned shipping crane being transported from the Port of Seattle to the Port of Tacoma, according to the complaint.
The suit, which didn’t specify the extent of damages sustained by the family-owned restaurant, had been seeking a judgment to be determined by the court and other court-related costs.
