The city of Baltimore has said the owner and manager of the cargo ship that brought down the Francis Scott Key Bridge last month are directly responsible for the accident and should not be allowed to escape legal responsibility, according to court documents filed Monday.
The 985-foot-long ship crashed into the bridge in the early hours of March 26 after leaving Baltimore Harbor and losing power to its engine and navigation equipment. The bridge collapsed moments later, killing six construction workers, forcing the port to close and disrupting the shipping industry up and down the East Coast.
A federal investigation into the crash could take years. Meanwhile, the ship’s owner and operator, both based in Singapore, have asked a federal judge in Maryland to hold them harmless for any related loss or damage.
In early April, lawyers for the ship’s owner, Grace Ocean, and its manager, Synergy Marine, said in a court filing that the accident was not the result of “any fault, negligence or inattention” on the part of the companies.
If Grace Ocean and Synergy Marine are ultimately found liable, the total amount should be limited to about $43.7 million, the two companies argued. This roughly equals the value of the ship and its freight at the time of the accident, less estimated salvage and repair costs, according to the companies.
Lawyers for Mayor Brandon M. Scott and the Baltimore City Council rejected the companies’ arguments Monday, saying in a filing that the companies should be held liable for any damages that may be awarded during a jury trial. The submission said the accident was a “direct and proximate” result of the Singapore companies’ “carelessness, negligence, gross negligence and recklessness”, and as a result of the vessel’s unseaworthiness.
“For all intents and purposes, Petitioners’ negligence caused them to destroy the Key Bridge and single-handedly close the Port of Baltimore, a source of jobs, municipal revenue, and no small amount of pride for the City of Baltimore and its residents,” the document said, referring to Grace Ocean and Synergy Marine.
The city’s filing said its claim of “unseaworthiness” was based on a report by The Associated Press that the Dali had “apparent electrical problems” before leaving port. The AP attributed that information to an anonymous source.
Baltimore is “continuing its legal claims against those responsible for the Key Bridge disaster to ensure that the city, its residents and its businesses are appropriately compensated for their losses,” said Sara Gross, head of Baltimore’s Affirmative Litigation Division. , in a brief statement Monday night.
Ms. Gross did not elaborate on the city’s plans. An attorney working for the city, Adam Levitt, said in a statement this month that the city planned to file “significant” lawsuits against the boat’s owner and manufacturer, among other parties.
Representatives for Grace Ocean and Synergy Marine could not be reached for comment during Asian business day Tuesday. A Synergy spokesperson in the United States did not respond to an email. Synergy did not mention the issue of liability in its public statements immediately after the accident.
The Dali, built in 2015, was bound for Colombo, Sri Lanka, and later Yantian, China, when it left the port of Baltimore on March 26 with 4,679 containers and 22 sailors from India.