Owner and operator of ship in Baltimore bridge collapse will pay $135 million
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A view of the Dali vessel that crashed into the Francis Scott Key Bridge, causing it to collapse in Baltimore, Maryland, on April 4.
PHOTO: REUTERS
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WASHINGTON - The owner and operator of the cargo ship that struck Baltimore’s Francis Scott Key Bridge in March
The DOJ in September filed a civil claim seeking US$103 million from two Singapore companies, Grace Ocean and Synergy Marine.
The claim was intended to recoup the money the US government spent responding to the disaster and clearing the wreck of the Dali ship and bridge debris from the Port of Baltimore, so the waterway could reopen in June.
Principal Deputy Associate Attorney-General Benjamin Mizer said the settlement “ensures that the costs of the federal government’s clean-up efforts in the Fort McHenry Channel are borne by Grace Ocean and Synergy and not the American taxpayer”.
The National Transportation Safety Board said in May that the Dali lost electrical power several times before it crashed into the bridge spanning the Patapsco River early on March 26. The F ederal Bureau of Investigation in April opened a criminal investigation
The DOJ’s lawsuit was brought as part of a legal action initiated by Grace Ocean and Synergy to limit their liability for the crash to US$44 million, a sum department officials called “woefully inadequate”.
The ship slammed into a support pylon, sending the bridge plunging into the river.
The reopening required the removal of 50,000 tonnes of debris. More than 1,500 individual responders, along with 500 specialists from around the world, operated a fleet of boats during the operation, which involved 56 federal, state and local agencies.
The state of Maryland, which estimates that it will cost US$1.7 billion to US$1.9 billion to rebuild the bridge and anticipates completion by the autumn of 2028, separately filed claims against the companies for the cost of the bridge, clean-up efforts, environmental claims and other costs. Funds recovered by Maryland for reconstruction of the bridge will be used to reduce the project costs paid by the US government, said the DOJ.
In a statement, Grace Ocean and Synergy said: “The settlement strictly covers costs related to clearing the channel, which we would have been responsible for in any case, and is not indicative of any liability, which we expressly reject for the incident that led to the collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge.
“Grace Ocean and Synergy are prepared to vigorously defend themselves in the limitation of liability proceedings pending before the Federal Court in Baltimore and to establish that they were not responsible for the incident.” REUTERS
