The U.S. Justice Department sued the owner and manager of the cargo ship that caused the Baltimore bridge collapse.
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The Justice Department filed a civil claim in the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland against Grace Ocean Private Limited and Synergy Marine Private Limited, the Singaporean corporations that owned and operated the container ship that destroyed the Francis Scott Key Bridge.
In the early morning hours of March 26, the Motor Vessel DALI left the Port of Baltimore bound for Sri Lanka. While navigating through the Fort McHenry Channel, the vessel lost power, regained power, and then lost power again before striking the bridge.
The bridge collapsed and plunged into the water below, tragically killing six people. In addition to this heartbreaking loss of life, the wreck of the DALI 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 loss of the bridge also severed a critical highway in our transportation infrastructure and a key artery for local commuters.
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 underway, 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.
Indeed, the lawsuit specifically asserts that none of the four means that should have been available to help steer the DALI — the propeller, rudder, anchor, or bow thruster — worked when they were needed to avert or even mitigate this disaster.
The Justice Department’s claim also seeks punitive damages to deter the owner and operator of the DALI and others.
The claim on behalf of the United States does not include any damages for the reconstruction of the Francis Scott Key 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.
Subsequently, pursuant to the governing regulation, funds recovered by the State of Maryland for reconstruction of the bridge will be used to reduce the project costs paid by federal taxpayer dollars.
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