Nearly seven months after Maryland’s Francis Scott Key Bridge collapsed after being struck by a transport ship, the U.S. Department of Justice has filed a lawsuit with Dali, the company that owned and operated the ship, for more than $100 million. A settlement was reached.
Singapore-based Grace Ocean Private Limited and Synergy Marine Private Limited will pay $101.98 million to settle a civil lawsuit brought by the United States for responding to a “catastrophic collapse” The Ministry of Justice announced that the agreement has been reached. Thursday’s statement.
The funds will be donated to the U.S. Treasury Department and other federal agencies directly affected by the incident or involved in the response, it said.
According to the announcement, the United States filed a complaint dated September 18, seeking civil damages totaling $103,078,056 under the Rivers and Ports Act, Oil Pollution Act, and General Maritime Law.
There are still dozens of unresolved civil lawsuits, including one in Maryland seeking damages from Dali’s owner.
Thursday’s settlement does not include damages associated with rebuilding the bridge because Maryland builds, owns, maintains and operates the bridge, according to the Justice Department.
“This is a remarkable achievement that fully compensates the United States for the costs incurred in responding to this disaster and holds DALI’s owners and operators accountable,” said Brian M. Boynton, Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General for the Department of Justice’s Civil Division. The assistant said. the department said in a statement. “The speedy resolution of this matter will also avoid the costs associated with this complex litigation, which will likely take years.”
The Dali crashed into the Key Bridge in early March 26 while en route to Sri Lanka after leaving the Port of Baltimore. The ship lost power, then lost power again, and lost power again before colliding with a bridge and collapsing into the Fort McHenry Channel.
Six people working on the bridge were killed.
The sunken ship could not be moved and blocked the strait for months, “stopping all shipping in and out of the Port of Baltimore,” the Justice Department said, adding that “a critical highway of transportation infrastructure was also severed.” added. and closed a major highway for local commuters. ”
The Justice Department said the United States led the response effort, which included “coordinating dozens of federal, state, and local agencies to remove approximately 50,000 tons of steel, concrete, and asphalt from the waterway and DALI itself.”
The US also said it had “established a temporary route to begin easing port bottlenecks and alleviate some of the economic devastation caused by DALI.”
Contributed by Julia Jester and Michael Kosnar.
