Maryland Attorney General Anthony Brown, with Gov. Wes Moore, right, announces that the state has filed a lawsuit against the owners and operators of container ship Dali for the collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge in March. Photo by Bryan P. Sears
Attorneys representing the state of Maryland filed a lawsuit Tuesday against two companies that own and operate the ship responsible for the collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge in March.
The state’s lawsuit — coming on the deadline set by a federal judge for claims to be filed in the case — becomes one of the last of about a dozen actions against Grace Ocean Limited and Synergy Marine, the owner and operator, respectively, of the Dali.
Claims in those suits could be in the billions, but the companies filed their own petition in U.S. District Court in Baltimore seeking to limit their liability to $44 million – the value of the ship and its cargo.
Maryland’s lawsuit does not yet set a specific dollar amount to the damages incurred by the state following the ship strike that killed six workers — all immigrants from Latin America — and sent the bridge to the bottom of the Patapsco River.
“Simply put, Grace Ocean Limited and Synergy Marine failed and their failure resulted in one of the most catastrophic and preventable maritime disasters in Maryland history,” Maryland Attorney General Anthony Brown (D) said during a Tuesday press conference.
Brown told reporters that companies who owned and operated the ship knew about serious problems onboard. He charged the companies failed to maintain critical electrical equipment, circumvented “critical safety features” that would have restored power before the ship slammed into the bridge, and failed to hire and train the ship’s crew.
“So today, we file a lawsuit to make sure that they pay for their failure,” Brown said.
The lawsuit filed this week is just the beginning of what is likely to be complicated and protracted legal wrangling.
Five private firms — Hunt Valley-based Downs Ward Bender Herzog & Kintigh PA; Kelley Drye & Warren LLP and Liskow & Lewis APLC, both of Houston; the Lanier Law Firm of New York; and Partridge LLC of New Orleans — represent the state in various aspects of the case, including maritime law, insurance, and complex litigation.
The firms were hired on a contingency basis with fees ranging from 2% to 18% of monetary damages recovered by the state. That amount excludes the first $350 million paid to the state from an insurance policy on the bridge.
The crash occurred in the early morning hours of March 26 when the fully loaded Dali lost power on its way out of the Port of Baltimore. With no steering, the 985-foot ship, weighing 95,000 gross tons, slammed into a bridge tower, causing the center span of the bridge to tumble into the Patapsco River.
The allision killed six workers who were on the bridge, shut down traffic to and from the Port of Baltimore for months and destroyed the span over the Patapsco.
The incident remains under investigation by the National Transportation Safety Board. There is a separate, ongoing, criminal investigation.
Brown said an investigation by the state determined that the ship was not seaworthy when it pulled away from the Port of Baltimore in the early morning, minutes before striking the bridge.
The ship’s electrical system failed twice while in port. The crew failed to report the incident to the Coast Guard — as required by law — or to harbor pilots who were assisting the ship as it left port, Brown said.
“Instead, they told them everything was fine, but all was not fine when the Dali set sail on March 26,” said Brown. “Within minutes of leaving its berth, the ship once again lost power, which in turn made it lose propulsion and steering capabilities. The ship became a dark missile gliding through the port until it struck a pier of the Key Bridge with catastrophic force.”
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Damages sought by the state — which are yet to be specified — could easily run in the billions of dollars.
Earlier this year, Lloyd’s of London said the incident could be the most expensive maritime insurance payout in history. Total claims could approach $4 billion, according to the insurer, which is also party to the lawsuits filed against the Dali’s owner and operator.
Maryland, in its lawsuit, is seeking to recover the costs of replacing the bridge.
Gov. Wes Moore (D) said the state will continue to press forward with efforts to replace the bridge. Early estimates place the cost at $1.7 billion.
President Joseph Biden, hours after the collapse, promised federal aid to cover the full cost of the new bridge. So far, that funding has not materialized.
Any money recovered would likely go to repaying the federal government.
Additionally, the state is asking to recover the costs of cleanup operations, lost taxes and tolls, attorneys fees and other damages.
Brown said the state continues to identify all the costs of the incident.
“We’re going to put pen to paper, and we will do the analysis,” he said. “And to the extent there’s a delta and there’s a gap, that is a damage, that is a harm caused by the owners and operators of the Dali, and they will be held accountable for that delta.”
The lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court in Baltimore was expected. It is the latest in a series of claims filed against Grace Ocean and Synergy Marine due to the bridge collapse.
Darrell Wilson, a spokesperson for the two companies, declined to comment “on the merits of any claim at this time,” adding “we do look forward to our day in court to set the record straight.”
The two companies’ move to limit their liability to $44 million came less than a week after the bridge collapsed.
“It is our goal to break through this limitation of liability that they so quickly, after their gross negligence and reckless conduct, ran to the courthouse steps to limit their liability based on a law passed 150 years ago when you had wooden ships and crowded ports,” Brown said. “And what we’re going to do is demonstrate that they knew, or should have known, from shoreside, that that ship, the Dali, was unseaworthy.”
Maryland’s claim is part of a tangle of lawsuits filed in the wake of the catastrophe.
Last week, attorneys for the U.S. Department of Justice filed a lawsuit seeking more than $100 million.
Also on Tuesday, lawyers for Baltimore County filed claims against the ship’s owner and operator. The county is seeking unspecified damages including cost of the response, creating a public nuisance and attorney’s fees.
We’re taking bold action to hold the owners and operators of the Dali accountable for the tragic impact the collapse had on our community. https://t.co/RJxn6H7wXR pic.twitter.com/w0xh89wL5f
— County Executive Johnny Olszewski (@BaltCoExec) September 24, 2024
Similarly, Baltimore City sued the companies in April citing a loss of tax revenue. It also seeks compensation for cleanup, obstruction of the Patapsco River and creating a public nuisance.
The lawsuit filed by the state is one of nearly a dozen that appeared in online searches of federal court records as of Tuesday. Other lawsuits against Grace Ocean and Synergy Marine related to the destruction of the Key Bridge include:
American Publishing LLC was the first business to file a lawsuit related to the collapse of the bridge. The company alleges in its claim that it suffered an 84% drop in revenue less than a month after the incident.
Underwood Energy, a Baltimore-based company that transports propane and other hazardous materials used by residential and commercial customers. The company used to transport its products over the Key Bridge. Those materials are prohibited in the Fort McHenry and Harbor Tunnels, which means the company must now transport its products around Interstate 695. The company is seeking unspecified damages and attorneys fees.
Hunt Valley-based Brawner Builders, the contractor hired to do maintenance work on the bridge the night of the collapse, claims damages from the injury and deaths of employees as well as the loss of equipment on the bridge. The lawsuit seeks unspecified damages.
The families and estates of the six workers who died in the collapse — Dorlian Ronial Castillo Cabrera, Carlos Daniel Hernandez Estrella, Alejandro Hernandez Fuentes, Miguel Angel Luna Gonzalez, José Mynor López, and Maynor Yasir Suazo-Sandoval — are seeking unspecified damages. All six workers were immigrants from Mexico, El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras.
Insurance companies are also seeking damages. In one lawsuit, companies including New York Marine, General Insurance and underwriters at Lloyd’s of London, Axis Syndicate 1686 — all of whom insured cargo on the Dali — are seeking to recover the costs of claims paid out plus interest and other unspecified damages. In a second lawsuit involving insurance companies, Liberty Mutual is seeking similar damages for cargo it insured.
Shipping company Star Bulk, owner of the cargo ship Star Triumph, is seeking more than $756,000 in fees, costs, expenses and interest and lost profits after the cargo ship was prevented from entering the Port of Baltimore after the collapsed bridge closed the shipping channel.