Justice Department Sues Dali Owner For $103 Million

The U.S. Justice Department has filed a civil claim in the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland against Grace Ocean Private Limited and Synergy Marine Private Limited, the Singaporean corporations that owned and operated the container ship Dali.

In the early morning hours of March 26, the mv. Dali left the Port of Baltimore bound for Sri Lanka. While navigating through the Fort McHenry Channel, the Dali lost power, regained power and then lost power again before striking a pier on the Francis Scott Key Bridge. Within seconds, the bridge collapsed and plunged into the water below, killing six people.

The lawsuit, which was filed September 18, claims negligence and unseaworthiness of the vessel.

The bridge collapse, which pinned the Dali in place for weeks, obstructed the navigable channel and brought all shipping into and out of the Port of Baltimore to a standstill.

The lawsuit seeks to recover more than $100 million in costs the United States incurred in responding to the fatal disaster and for clearing the entangled wreck and bridge debris from the navigable channel so the port could reopen.

“The Justice Department is committed to ensuring accountability for those responsible for the destruction of the Francis Scott Key Bridge, which resulted in the tragic deaths of six people and disrupted our country’s transportation and defense infrastructure,” said Attorney General Merrick B. Garland. “With this civil claim, the Justice Department is working to ensure that the costs of clearing the channel and reopening the Port of Baltimore are borne by the companies that caused the crash, not by the American taxpayer.”

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, along with employees of federal, state and local agencies, removed about 50,000 tons of steel, concrete and asphalt from the channel and from the Dali itself. While these removal operations were underway, the Corps also cleared a series of temporary channels to relieve the bottleneck at the port and mitigate some of the economic impact caused by the allision and collapse. The Fort McHenry Channel was cleared by June 10, with the Port of Baltimore reopened for commercial navigation.

“The owner and operator of the Dali were well aware of vibration issues on the vessel that could cause a power outage,” Principal Deputy Associate Attorney General Benjamin C. Mizer said. “But instead of taking necessary precautions, they did the opposite. Out of negligence, mismanagement and, at times, a desire to cut costs, they configured the ship’s electrical and mechanical systems in a way that prevented those systems from being able to quickly restore propulsion and steering after a power outage. As a result, when the Dali lost power, a cascading set of failures led to disaster.”

The lawsuit asserts that none of the four means that should have been available to help steer the Dali—the propeller, rudder, anchor or bow thruster—worked when they were needed.

The Justice Department’s claim also seeks punitive damages to deter the owner and operator of the Dali and others. The department’s claim is part of a legal action the owner and operator of the Dali initiated shortly after the tragedy, in which they seek exoneration or limitation of their liability to approximately $44 million.

The claim does not include any damages for the reconstruction of the Francis Scott Key Bridge. The state of Maryland built, owned, maintained and operated the bridge, and attorneys on the state’s behalf may file a separate claim for those damages. Subsequently, 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 by federal taxpayer dollars.

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Featured photo caption: The floating crane Chesapeake 1000 (“Chessy”), equipped with “Gus” the hydraulic grabber, removes a 90-ton piece of the Francis Scott Key bridge from the water June 7 during the multiagency effort to reopen the Fort McHenry Federal Channel to navigation. The channel reopened to navigation June 10. (Photo courtesy of the Baltimore Engineer District)