Branson Duck Boat Cases Face 167-Year-Old Liability Torpedo

Ripley Entertainment Inc. and Ride the Ducks Branson LLC are likely to use a 167-year-old admiralty law in an effort to torpedo wrongful death litigation stemming from the July 19 sinking of an amphibious duck boat in Missouri.

Families of some of the 17 drowning victims, which included nine members of one family, say the refurbished World War II-era military vessel was unsafe and never should have been driven into Table Rock Lake as a severe thunderstorm approached.

But their lawsuits, at least one of which asks for more than $100 million in damages, will have to survive a federal ...