The US Department of Justice (DOJ) has filed a civil claim in the amount of over $100 million against the owner and operator of the Dali for costs incurred to reopen access to the Port of Baltimore after the vessel struck the Francis Scott Key Bridge, which collapsed and plunged into the water below, killing six people.
Grace Ocean Private and Synergy Marine Private are the Singaporean corporations that owned and operated the container ship.
On March 26, the Dali left the Port of Baltimore, bound for Sri Lanka. While navigating through the Fort McHenry Channel, it lost power, regained power, and then lost power again before striking the bridge.
The wreck of the vessel and the remnants of the bridge obstructed the navigable channel and brought all shipping into and out of the Port of Baltimore to a standstill.
The suit seeks to recover over $100 million in costs the United States incurred in responding to the fatal disaster and for clearing the entangled wreck and bridge debris from the navigable channel so the port could reopen.
The United States led the response efforts of dozens of federal, state, and local agencies to remove about 50 000 tons of steel, concrete, and asphalt from the channel and from the Dali itself. While these removal operations were under way, the claim alleges that the United States also cleared a series of temporary channels to start relieving the bottleneck at the port and mitigate some of the economic devastation caused by the Dali. The Fort McHenry Channel was cleared by June 10, and the Port of Baltimore was once again open for commercial navigation.
The DOJ believes it was an entirely avoidable catastrophe, resulting from a series of eminently foreseeable errors made by the owner and operator of the vessel.
The claim on behalf of the United States does not include any damages for the reconstruction of the bridge. The State of Maryland built, owned, maintained, and operated the bridge, and attorneys on the state’s behalf may file their own claim for those damages.
