US seeks damages from ship operator in Baltimore bridge collapse

WASHINGTON — The Biden administration launched a court fight Wednesday against the owners and operators of the ship that caused the deadly Francis Scott Key Bridge collapse in Baltimore earlier this year, arguing the companies ignored problems with the MV Dali’s systems that led to the crash.

The Justice Department’s filing, in an existing federal court case in Maryland, argued that both Grace Ocean Private Ltd. and Synergy Marine PTE Ltd. cut corners with the ship — such as welding a cargo hook to a wall to tamp down on vibrations — that led to the electrical and other equipment failures in the moments before the ship hit one of the bridge supports in March.

The claim seeks more than $100 million in costs incurred by the federal government for cleanup and recovery, plus an unspecified amount of punitive damages because the companies “sent an ill-prepared crew on an abjectly unseaworthy vessel to navigate the United States’ waterways.”

“This tragedy was entirely avoidable,” the Biden administration’s filing said, arguing that Grace Ocean and Synergy Marine should face the full costs of the collapse and cleanup.

The crash caused the collapse of the bridge, killing six construction workers and shutting the port of Baltimore’s main channel for months.

In the early morning hours of March 26, the ship underwent a “cascading series of failures” while trying to leave the port of Baltimore, the DOJ filing said. First the main electrical system failed. Then a backup system took too long to kick in, before it failed as well.

Once power was eventually restored the ship could not properly use its anchor or bow thruster, the filing said, which could have averted the collision. The ship then collided with one of the pillars of the bridge, causing a collapse within moments.

The ship’s owner and operator both knew about longstanding problems with the ship, such as vibration that could cause electrical failures, the filing said. The complaint said the ship’s owner ignored or used “jury-rigged” repairs in the ship’s electrical system ahead of the crash.

Further, the complaint said the owner used cheap parts to keep the ship running, including an improper fuel pump to the electricity-generating engines.

In a call with reporters Wednesday, Acting Deputy Assistant Attorney General Chetan Patil said that Ocean and Synergy should be responsible for the direct costs associated with removing the ship and wrecked bridge as well as reopening the port of Baltimore, which cost the federal government more than $100 million.

Patil said the federal government could only seek the costs associated with the cleanup and recovery from the crash, but not the bridge reconstruction as it was owned and operated by the state of Maryland. Patil said the state could seek a separate claim and any money it recovered would be used to reimburse federal funds used in reconstruction.

The state of Maryland has not yet filed a claim over reconstruction of the bridge.

Patil also said the government would dispute Grace Ocean’s effort to limit its potential liability for the entire crash to a “woefully inadequate” $44 million.

The costs of reconstruction have been an ongoing issue in Congress. The Biden administration has requested as much as $3.1 billion to bolster the Department of Transportation earlier this year and help fund the Key Bridge repair without a matching fund requirement for Maryland.

The latest House short-term funding proposal set for a vote Wednesday does not include funds for the bridge as part of a $10 billion disaster supplemental.

The DOJ filed the claim as part of an ongoing court dispute between Grace Ocean, the owner of the ship, and Synergy Marine, who operated it, over the costs associated with the crash.