Baltimore bridge collapse probably caused billions in damages [Video]

The massive cargo ship crash that destroyed Baltimore’s Francis Scott Key Bridge on Tuesday will probably cost various shipping companies and insurers billions of dollars in damages. But lawyers, legislators and business owners will need to turn to one of the oldest subjects of law to figure out who owes what.Video above — Aerial video: Cranes working on wreckage of Baltimore bridge collapseThat’s because it all comes down to maritime law – an ancient, often seemingly eccentric legal field that still relies on some precedents set in the Iron Age.”Maritime law is steeped in antiquity. it goes back to the Phoenicians, it goes back to the Greeks,” Sean Pribyl, a partner at the law firm Holland & Knight, said in an interview with CNN.Maritime law is rooted in the need to settle disputes and enforce rules between different peoples, even before there was the concept of countries with definitive laws.”It’s …