Maryland filed a lawsuit against the shipping company responsible for the Baltimore Francis Scott Key Bridge collapse, which left six workers dead.
Maryland’s lawsuit mirrors other recent filings alleging the Singapore-based ship’s owner and manager, Grace Ocean Private Limited and Synergy Marine Group, knowingly sent a faulty ship into American-controlled waters. Earlier this year, the Dali lost power and struck the bridge overnight, bringing it down and closing the Port of Baltimore for weeks.
“Hear me loud and clear. What happened in the early morning of March 26 should never have happened,” Gov. Wes Moore (D-MD) said at a news conference.
“A bridge that was used by thousands of vehicles every single day should still be here right now. A key artery to the Port of Baltimore, which helped move billions of dollars of freight every single year, should still be here right now. And the six victims of the collapse should all be here right now,” he continued. Moore also read aloud the names of the six victims at the press conference.
The work ahead will not be easy. Any litigation this complicated will take time.
But in Maryland, we don’t shy away from big challenges – we lean in – and we demand justice.
— Governor Wes Moore (@GovWesMoore) September 24, 2024
The state attorney general’s office said the government and residents of Maryland had suffered “tremendous costs and damages,” which include “massive costs” for removing bridge debris from the Patapsco River, a loss in revenue from tolls on the bridge, and an adverse impact on Maryland’s environment.
“A bridge was destroyed, a port was closed, communities were shattered,” Attorney General Anthony G. Brown said at the news conference. “That injustice, leaving Marylanders to pay for this tragedy, cannot and will not stand. The Dali was not fit to sail that morning.”
Maryland’s lawsuit mirrors that of the Department of Justice, which is suing Grace Ocean Private Limited for $100 million in damages. In its suit, it alleges there were a series of failures on the Dali that contributed to the crash, as well as allegations that mechanical and electrical systems on the massive ship had been “jury-rigged” and improperly maintained.
The Justice Department believes these problems culminated in a power outage, which occurred just minutes before the ship’s crash into one of the bridge’s support columns.
“This tragedy was entirely avoidable,” the lawyers wrote in the civil claim.
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Maryland brought on the lawsuit on the final day to dispute a request from the shipping companies that their liability should be capped at $43.6 million. Maryland officials have asked a federal judge not to cap the liability of the ship’s owner and operator as they argue that those found responsible should pay for the disaster’s catastrophic damage in full.
The families of the six victims who died as a result of the collapse have also sued the shipping companies.