Maryland sues Dali owners and managers for Key Bridge costs

The State of Maryland, where Baltimore is located, announced that it was filing a lawsuit, in the Federal District Court in Northern Maryland, against owner Grace Ocean Pte Ltd and operator, Synergy Marine Pte Ltd. Similarly to a suit filed late last week by the US Department of Justice, the State of Maryland said that it will be seeking compensation for costs incurred already and in the future.

Additionally, it says that it will seeking criminal damages against the owners and vessel operator, which was involved in an allision with the Francis Scott Key (FSK) bridge on 26 March following electrical power failures as the vessel was outbound.

The list of costs is lengthy, covering the overall cost of the replacement of the FSK bridge, revenues lost from tolls and taxes, as well as natural resource damages and contamination, and costs tied to the emergency response, salvage, demolition of the bridge span, and various benefits paid out to impacted businesses and affected workers.

At a news conference, Maryland’s top legal officer, Attorney General Anthony Brown, also attended by the State’s Governor Wes Moore, referred to owner and operator “gross incompetence” in sending the vessel, with known defects, out to sea. In their filing, they say: “This disaster was entirely preventable had the Dali’s owners and operators exercised proper care and diligence.”

Related:US Department of Justice files $100m suit against Dali shipowner, manager

Referring to electrical system issues in their legal filing, the State asserts that: “Nor were these failures reported to the United States Coast Guard, as required by law. Similarly, these failures were not divulged to the two local pilots from the Association of Maryland Pilots (the “Pilots”) who boarded the Dali to guide its departure from the Port of Baltimore, which was also required by law. In fact, the Dali’s master falsely reported to the Pilots that everything was in good working order.”

The vessel owners had sought to limit their liability to approximately $43 million; in Maryland’s petition “… the State respectfully asks this Court to (a) deny the effort by Petitioners to limit their liability, and (b) hold Petitioners accountable for their reckless conduct, negligence, mismanagement, and incompetency.” In their brief, which goes into great detail about defects aboard the vessel, the State asserts that: “ The allision that gave rise to Petitioners’ Complaint was caused by the unseaworthiness of the Dali which unseaworthiness predated the voyage of March 26, 2024. Such unseaworthiness of the Dali is imputed to Petitioners and extinguishes any right they might have to seek limitation of liability.”

Related:What can we learn from the Baltimore bridge collision?

The precise costs of that might be incurred by Maryland are not known, indeed the legal filing says: “The full extent of the economic and environmental impact to the State and its agencies remains to be seen…” Estimates of construction costs for a replacement bridge span have been in the $1 billion - $2 billion range.

The filing notes: “Replacing the FSK Bridge will require a substantial, years-long undertaking to design and build a new crossing. [Maryland’s Department of Transportation] has preliminarily estimated that the rebuilding project will cost at least $1.7 billion, and that the work will not be completed until 2028.”

Maryland lawsuit

https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/25173597-maryland-lawsuit-against-mv-dali?responsive=1&title=1