The two shipping companies involved in the deadly collapse of Baltimore’s Francis Scott Key Bridge have agreed to settle a lawsuit with the federal government for $102 million.
The settlement payment by Grace Ocean Private Ltd. and Synergy Marine Private Ltd., which owned and managed, respectively, the containership Dali, resolves a $103 million damage claim by the U.S. The money will reimburse agencies that responded after the Dali collided with the bridge on March 26. Those agencies include the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the U.S. Coast Guard.
The Justice Department filed the claim on Sept. 18.
“This is a tremendous outcome that fully compensates the United States for the costs it incurred in responding to this disaster and holds the owner and operator of the DALI accountable,” said Deputy Assistant Attorney General Brian Boynton, head of the department’s civil division, in a news release.
“The prompt resolution of this matter also avoids the expense associated with litigating this complex case for potentially years.”
Shortly after leaving its berth at Port of Baltimore en route to Sri Lanka, the Dali lost power, regained power and lost power again before hitting the bridge. The bridge collapsed into the channel, killing six construction workers. The loss of the bridge severed a critical trucking route and blocked container traffic into and out of the port for more than two months.
The response effort involved federal, state and local agencies, which removed about 50,000 tons of steel, concrete and asphalt from the channel and from the ship, according to the DOJ. The port reopened to commercial shipping on June 10.
The settlement does not include damages for rebuilding the bridge.
“The State of Maryland built, owned, maintained, and operated the bridge, and attorneys on the state’s behalf filed their own claim for those damages,” the DOJ noted. “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 for in the first instance by federal tax dollars.”
The settlement is also separate from ongoing lawsuits filed against the two ship companies for negligence, including families of workers who were killed and shippers and transportation companies alleging significant losses to their business as a result of past and current supply chain disruptions caused by the collapse.
