Wrongful Death Suit Filed in Connection with Golden Ray Shipwreck Against Galveston Salvage Company

• Golden Ray Shipwreck is largest salvage operation since Exxon-Valdez Alaska Oil Spill
• Albert Dai's surviving dependents file wrongful death lawsuit against salvage operators, T&T Salvage, LLC and Teichman Group, LLC
• Lawsuit claims T&T Salvage won bid to salvage Golden Ray in Georgia based on reckless plan, resulting in millions of dollars in excess cost, delays, environmental damage, and the death of Albert Dai, Plaintiff

AUSTIN, Texas , June 6, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Harris-county family represented by law firm Muery & Farrell has filed a lawsuit against Galveston-based T&T Salvage for the death of employee Albert Dai, husband and father. Teichman Group, LLC is also named as a defendant.

Wenijan (Albert) Dai had been employed by T&T Salvage as a specialized naval architect and salvage engineer from 2012 until his death. In 2019, Defendant bid on a complex salvage project off the coast of Georgia, following the capsize of the Golden Ray.

The Golden Ray shipwreck is the largest salvage operation in the history of the United States. The lawsuit claims Dai, who had over two decades of experience in marine salvage, warned T&T Salvage that its salvage plan was "not achievable" and posed "significant risks".

T&T Salvage won the bid, causing an extraordinary workload on Dai, including during the first half of 2020 as COVID-19 caused global lockdowns. His widow, Yuan Zhou, claims that Dai worked "around the clock" under extraordinary pressure. He died on June 29, 2020, and Plaintiffs make claims for gross negligence.

The Golden Ray salvage incident was, according to one U.S. Coast Guard Commander, the "largest wreck removal in U.S. history." T&T Salvage is also named as a defendant in a lawsuit by Glynn County, Georgia, where the capsize took place, which alleges that negligent salvage operations caused environmental damage, including several fires, oil spills, and allowed "debris and hazardous fluids to get into the sound, estuary and marshlands."

Maureen Farrell, Counsel for Plaintiffs, "T&T Salvage ignored warnings, and pursued a reckless salvage plan that cost about $800 million, caused environmental destruction to the Georgia coast, and cost Albert Dai his life. Companies should not work employees to death in pursuit of profits at any price." 

The lawsuit is ongoing. Houston-based firm Nguyen & Chen is serving as plaintiffs' co-counsel in the case.

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SOURCE Muery & Farrell, P.C.