Mary Potter, West Kentucky Journal
Friday, June 27, 2014 3:53 pm

Cargo ship Delta Mariner took out center of Eggner's Ferry Bridge in January 2012.

A federal judge ruled today that employees of Fosse Maritime, the company that owns the Delta Mariner, will face a jury in Marshall Circuit Court. The defendants had sought to get the case heard in federal court.

The Kentucky Transportation Cabinet sued seven employees of Fosse seeking reimbursement for the $7 million dollars that it cost to repair the Eggner's Ferry Bridge after the Delta Mariner struck it in the early hours of January 26, 2012. The loss of the bridge damaged area trade and tourism during the months it took to repair the structure.

The case was originally filed by the Cabinet in Marshall County. A competing suit was filed in federal court by Foss. The question of which forum was appropriate was before the federal court.

The decision today by a federal Judge Thomas B. Russell put the case solely in state court.

The Court noted that the Cabinet requested a jury trial.

Judge Thomas Russell wrote  “Were this case to be removed pursuant to the Court’s original admiralty jurisdiction, however, no such trial would be available: admiralty cases do not carry with them the right to a jury trial.”