Posted by Ric Mixter on August 26, 19100 at 04:53:02:
In Reply to: Legalities of Edmund Fitzgerald posted by Maria Montagliani on August 26, 19100 at 03:52:02:
: Could anyone tell me if there were any court cases surrounding the wreck - civil or criminal? If so, please point me in the right direction. I believe Mr Farnquist was involved in a suit. To that end I would like to speak to Farnquist.
: Also, I would like to know how the bell was able to be retrieved from Canadian waters, ie, whatr legal steps were undertaken to allow the bell to be retrieved by the US.
--Hi Maria!
Your questions could take several hours of typing to answer.. but I'll try to summarize what I know about the legal issues on the Fitzgerald.
Whitefish Point Museum jumped through 'all the hoops' to get the bell, according to Director Tom Farnquist. This included 'permission' from the surviving family members, insurance company and shipping company. The bell was raised by the Canadian Navy (although the newt suit is privately owned) and the bell was officially given to the state of Michigan at a ceremony that rang the bell in memory of those lost.
The only legal issues I know about was a failed attempt by Fred Shannon to block the removal of the bell.
He petitioned the court that the ship would lose value if the bell was removed. I personally don't think the courts had a voice in the matter anyways.. since it is in Canadian waters. Shannon further declared that the ship was in American waters.. which was refuted by the Canadian navy during their salvage.
I'm sure my 'analysis' of the actual 25 year history of the Fitz is lacking in many respects.
It suffices to say (by the slanderous tone of some of the postings on this page) that many are upset.
My personal opinion is that the bell was raised with good intentions. Those intentions included a memorial for those lost, and a 7 dollar charge to see the bell in person. Multiply that by 70 thousand visitors and you have a wonderful tourist income to an area that used to only have two waterfalls. I imagine that's why our casino operators paid a half million dollars to raise the Fitz bell in the first place.
Did I open a can of worms?
Ric Mixter
Producer: The Edmund Fitzgerald Investigation
The Fitzgerald Interactive CDROM
Deep Six
Expedition '94 to the Edmund Fitzgerald