HUNTSVILLE, Ala. — The owner of a commercial towboat involved in a collision that killed two Morgan County fishermen Saturday night has filed a petition in federal court seeking to be cleared of any wrongdoing or to limit its financial liability to just over $16 million.
Magnolia Marine Transport Company filed the “Verified Complaint for Exoneration from or Limitation of Liability” on Tuesday in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Alabama. The filing comes just three days after its vessel, the M/V STAN HUMPHREYS and its flotilla of three barges, collided with an aluminum fishing boat on the Tennessee River.
The collision resulted in the deaths of 63-year-old William Michael Sandlin and 66-year-old Edison Kim Wallace. Funerals for both men are scheduled for this week in Morgan County…