The U.S. Justice Department has filed a civil claim seeking over $100 million (approximately Ksh.12.9 billion) from the owner and operator of a container ship that destroyed the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore, resulting in six deaths and severely disrupting a major transportation artery for the U.S. Northeast.
The department is aiming to recover the $103 million (around Ksh.13.3 billion) spent by the U.S. government in response to the disaster and for clearing wreckage and debris to reopen the Port of Baltimore in June. Additionally, it is seeking unspecified punitive damages, accusing Grace Ocean Private Limited and Synergy Marine Private Limited—the Singaporean companies that owned and operated the Dali cargo ship—of negligence.
“This was an entirely avoidable catastrophe, resulting from a series of eminently foreseeable errors made by the owner and operator of the Dali,” said Brian Boynton, head of the Justice Department’s Civil Division, in a statement.
Representatives for Grace Ocean and Synergy were not immediately available for comment.
In April, the FBI launched a criminal investigation into the collapse. The National Transportation Safety Board reported in May that the Dali had experienced several electrical power losses before crashing into the bridge in the early morning of March 26. The collision with a support pylon caused the Francis Scott Key Bridge to collapse into the Patapsco River, killing six workers on the bridge.
Principal Deputy Associate Attorney General Benjamin Mizer stated that the ship’s owner and operator were aware of long-standing electrical and mechanical issues with the Dali but failed to address them due to “negligence, mismanagement, and, at times, a desire to cut costs.” He added, “As a result, when the Dali lost power, a cascading set of failures led to disaster.”
The cleanup operation, which required the removal of 50,000 tons of debris from the collapsed bridge, involved over 1,500 responders and 500 specialists from around the world, along with a fleet of boats and collaboration among 56 federal, state, and local agencies. Maryland estimates that rebuilding the bridge will cost between $1.7 billion (around Ksh.219.3 billion) and $1.9 billion (approximately Ksh.245.1 billion) and expects it to be completed by fall 2028.
The Justice Department’s lawsuit was filed in response to a legal action initiated by Grace Ocean and Synergy, who sought to limit their liability for the crash to $44 million (Ksh.5.7 billion), a figure Justice Department officials described as “woefully inadequate.”
