Justice Department Sues Cargo Ship Owner For $100 Million In Baltimore Bridge Collapse

Topline

The Justice Department has accused the owner and manager of a cargo ship that crashed into a Baltimore bridge earlier this year of not properly maintaining the vessel’s electrical and mechanical systems in a $100 million lawsuit filed Wednesday.

Key Facts

The federal government is looking to recoup the more than $100 million it spent to reopen Baltimore’s port and clean up the debris of the Francis Scott Key Bridge that fell into the Patapsco River after a ship called the Dali crashed into one of the bridge's piers in March.

The lawsuit says Singapore-based companies Grace Ocean Private Ltd., the Dali's owner, and Synergy Marine Group, which managed the ship, failed to properly maintain the vessel before it lost power and veered off course into the bridge causing the collapse, which killed six members of a maintenance crew atop the bridge.

The lawsuit calls the collapse "entirely avoidable" and claims it was caused by "careless and grossly negligent decisions" that included sending "an unseaworthy vessel to navigate a critical waterway and [ignoring] the risks to American lives and the nation’s infrastructure."

Days after the crash, the ship's owner and manager asked a federal court to limit their liability to less than $44 million, a request which the Justice Department is now asking not be granted and that the companies "be held fully accountable for the catastrophic harm they caused."

The federal lawsuit comes one day after the families of those hurt or killed in the bridge collapse said they, too, plan to sue over the disaster.

Key Background

The Dali was leaving Baltimore and headed for Sri Lanka on March 26 when, about four minutes from the bridge, the ship lost electricity when a transformer tripped open, leaving the engine room without power and causing the propeller to stop turning. The power should have automatically transferred to a second transformer, the lawsuit claims, but the safety feature had been disabled and engineers were left to try to manually reset the breakers in the dark. It took a minute for power to be restored, but, one minute later, the ship lost power a second time. The lawsuit claims the second power failure was caused by a shortcut decision regarding fuel pumps made by the ship's operator. At roughly 1:28 a.m., the Dali hit the Francis Scott Key Bridge support piers and several sections fell into the Patapsco River. It took months before the Port of Baltimore channel could be re-opened and it will take years to rebuild the bridge, according to the Justice Department.

What To Watch For

More lawsuits. A complaint by the victim’s families is expected to be filed soon and the Justice Department on Wednesday said that the state of Maryland would also look to be reimbursed for the cost of rebuilding the bridge through further legal action.

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