The survivors of last year’s tragic gangway collapse on Sapelo Island that left seven dead announced Wednesday they have filed a lawsuit against the parties responsible for the gangway’s construction.
The gangway collapsed on Oct. 19, 2024 during the island’s annual Gullah Geechee Cultural Day celebration. The event brought hundreds to the area, but as people were boarding the ferry back to the mainland, the aluminum gangway fell into the water, taking dozens into the water.
The survivors, as well as family members of the deceased, are being represented by The Mance Law Firm, a personal injury firm based in Savannah. Attorney Chadrick Mance alleged that the gangway’s collapse was the result of negligent engineering and “improper design and maintenance” by the private companies that designed and built it. The companies listed as defendants in the suit are Stevens & Wilkinson, Centennial Contractors Enterprises, EMC Engineering Services and Crescent Equipment Company.
The gangway was the result of a dock rehabilitation project following a 2020 civil rights settlement, which required a structure that followed specific structural certifications.
But Mance said investigations revealed the gangway was never approved by certified engineers, and previous concerns about the structure, such as cracking, were ignored. In the complaint, attorneys said the companies failed to ensure the gangway would be able to bear the load it was required to. Mance said the lack of oversight is what led it to the collapse that day.
“All of this was an alarming set of red flags that should have prompted the appropriate entities, the punitive defendants and others, to take the appropriate safety measures to make sure that a gangway, that is the chief source of transportation in and off the island, was appropriately maintained,” Mance said during the press conference at Elm Grove Baptist Church in Meridian.
Mance was joined by a few survivors during the press conference. Two plaintiffs named in the complaint shared how the collapse still affects them.
“That day started out as an exciting moment for me, because I had never been to Sapelo, it was a first-time experience. I was excited to see what it was about, how it looked over there. I enjoyed the event,” said Janice Carroll, a resident of Brunswick. “Coming back was something totally different that I didn’t expect, and from that, I still have some problems with it, but I’m still here.”
David Michael Wood said his mother grew up on Sapelo Island, and that day was the first time that his daughters, who were 8 and 2 at the time, got to visit the island. He said the months after the collapse have been hard for his entire family.
“It’s been tough on them, especially our 8-year-old daughter. She talks about it a lot, sometimes has issues with thinking about going back on the island and getting on boats,” Wood said, joined by his wife Kimberly. “For myself, sleepless nights sometimes. You know, replaying everything in my mind, seeing my daughter hanging on the side, finding out my wife and my youngest daughter are missing. It’s just been rough, but I’m taking a day at a time and just trying to be there for my wife and my parents.”
Mance said the lawsuit doesn’t only seek to get justice for his clients, but also to illuminate a community that’s been “chipped away at for years.” He cited years of litigation and zoning disputes between local government, and the indigenous Gullah Geechee community as important background for the suit.
“When we look at this civil action, I encourage everybody to look at it in broader historical context, and what we mean by that is in the context of an island with resources that have really been deprived over a number of long standing years, and that culminated in negligence that resulted in a gangway collapse.”
Mance said the history of “structural inequalities” in Gullah Geechee communities played an important role in the collapse.
“This is symbolic of a disrespect for the lives of Black people. If it had been a more affluent area, we would have had a gangway and no lives lost,” he added. “This is unfortunate, and this has got to change. This mentality is the source of a lot of division in American society, and something we can all agree on is that nobody should have to compromise their safety to get to and from a place.”
He encouraged other communities in the Coastal Georgia region to stay informed on the case and to demand justice for the survivors from their local representatives. Mance mentioned a similar gangway collapse on St. Mary’s Island in 2022. That gangway was also created by Crescent Equipment, who were named as defendants in the lawsuit filed by the injured victims.
“Coastal Georgia and places like it are a place of gangways, water life is important here,” he said. “Being able to get to and from an island, being able to get to and from a place on the water, is an essential way of life. While it might have been Sapelo Island today, it might be your gangway tomorrow. We want to prevent unnecessary loss of life, and we want to maximize the amount of safety around.”
Centennial Contractors Enterprises responded to the lawsuit being filed in a statement via email. “We have recently learned about the reported lawsuit in connection with the Sapelo Island ferry gangway incident on October 19, 2024,” it said. “The underlying facts remain the subject of ongoing investigation. We do not comment on pending legal proceedings. Our deepest sympathies are with those who lost loved ones or were injured.”
Representatives for Stevens & Wilkinson, EMC Engineering Services and Crescent Equipment Company did not immediately respond to requests for comments.
