The US Justice Department on Thursday (24 October) announced Grace Ocean Private Limited and Synergy Marine Private Limited, the Singaporean corporations that owned and operated the Singapore-registered container vessel Dali, have agreed to pay USD 101,980,000 to resolve a civil claim brought by the United States for costs borne in responding to the catastrophic collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge.  

The settlement resolved the United States’ claims for civil damages for USD 103,078,056 under the Rivers and Harbors Act, Oil Pollution Act, and general maritime law. 

The settlement monies will go to the U.S. Treasury and to the budgets of several federal agencies directly affected by the allision or involved in the response.

“Nearly seven months after one of the worst transportation disasters in recent memory, which claimed six lives and caused untold damage, we have reached an important milestone with today’s settlement,” said Principal Deputy Associate Attorney General Benjamin C. Mizer. 

“Thanks to the hard work of the Justice Department attorneys since day one of this disaster, we were able to secure this early settlement of our claim, just over one month into litigation. This resolution ensures that the costs of the federal government’s cleanup efforts in the Fort McHenry Channel are borne by Grace Ocean and Synergy and not the American taxpayer.”

“This is a tremendous outcome that fully compensates the United States for the costs it incurred in responding to this disaster and holds the owner and operator of the Dali accountable,” said Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Brian M. Boynton, head of the Justice Department’s Civil Division. 

“The prompt resolution of this matter also avoids the expense associated with litigating this complex case for potentially years.”

In the early morning hours of 26 March, Dali left the Port of Baltimore bound for Sri Lanka. While navigating through the Fort McHenry Channel, the vessel lost power, regained power, and then lost power again before striking the bridge. 

The bridge collapsed and plunged into the water below, tragically killing six people. In addition to this heartbreaking loss of life, the wreck of the Dali and the remains of the bridge were left to obstruct the navigable channel, bringing all shipping into and out of the Port of Baltimore to a standstill. The loss of the bridge also severed a critical highway in the transportation infrastructure and blocked a key artery for local commuters.

The United States led the response efforts of dozens of federal, state, and local agencies to remove about 50,000 tons of steel, concrete, and asphalt from the channel and from the Dali itself. While removal operations were underway, the United States set up temporary channels to start relieving the bottleneck at the port and mitigate some of the economic devastation caused by the Dali. The Fort McHenry Channel was cleared by 10 June, and the Port of Baltimore was once again open for commercial navigation.

On 18 September, the Justice Department filed a civil lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland, seeking over USD 100 million in damages from Grace Ocean and Synergy. The Department’s claim was part of a legal action that the vessel companies filed shortly after the tragedy, in which they seek exoneration or limitation of their liability to approximately USD 43.7 million. 

The  settlement is in addition to USD 97,294 recently paid by Grace Ocean  to the Coast Guard National Pollution Fund Center for costs incurred to abate the threat of oil pollution arising from the incident.  

The settlement 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 filed their own claim for those damages. 

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 for in the first instance by federal tax dollars.

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Photo credit: National Transportation Safety Board
Published: 28 October 2024