A settlement has been reached in the civil lawsuit over the deaths of two Hungarian tourists and other passenger injuries when a barge pushed by a K-Sea tug, Caribbean Sea, struck the disabled “Duck boat” DUKW 34 at anchor in the Delaware River off Philadelphia on July 7, 2010. Szabolcs Prem, 20, and Dora Schwendtner, 16, who were visiting Philadelphia, died in the crash on the Delaware River. The families of the two tourists who died when the duck boat was run down will split $15 million paid for by Ride the Ducks, the firm which operates the amphibious touring vehicles, and K-Sea Transportation Partners, which owned the tug. An additional $2 million will also be divided among 18 other survivors of the accident.
Victims of Philly duck boat crash settle suit for $17M
In a criminal case, last November, Matthew Devlin, the mate on watch on the tug Caribbean Sea, was sentenced to a year and a day in prison for his role in the casualty.
So why doesn’t the Devlin family have to shell any cash out in all of this? Matt was the guilty party and was THE one driving the tug boat, he should be the one paying, not the other companies.