The massive container ship that crashed into and destroyed Baltimore’s historic Francis Scott Key Bridge last month was deemed “unseaworthy” when it left port, according to court documents filed by city officials. The city of Baltimore has accused the owner and manager of the Dali container ship of gross negligence, arguing that they should have realized the 980-foot-long vessel was unfit for voyage due to a power supply problem it had experienced just hours earlier.
The city’s claims were outlined in court documents filed on Monday in response to a petition submitted by the Dali’s owners and manager, which asked a court to limit their liability for the collapse under a pre-Civil War provision of an 1851 maritime law. A federal court in Maryland will ultimately decide who is responsible for the tragedy and the extent of their liability, in what could become one of the most expensive maritime disasters in history.
In their filing, attorneys for the mayor and city council refuted the claims of Grace Ocean Private Ltd. and Synergy Marine Pte Ltd., the Singapore-based companies that own and manage the ship, respectively, that they were not responsible for the collapse. The city argued that the companies should have known the Dali was not seaworthy and should have ensured it was manned by a competent crew.
“For more than four decades, cargo ships made thousands of trips every year under the Key Bridge without incident,” the city’s complaint reads. “There was nothing about March 26, 2024 that should have changed that.”
The city alleges that the crash was a direct result of the owner and operators’ “carelessness, negligence, gross negligence, and recklessness, and as a result of the unseaworthiness of the vessel.” The ship, capable of carrying nearly 130,000 tons of cargo, had just set off en route to Sri Lanka when it lost power shortly after leaving the Baltimore port and struck one of the bridge’s support columns, collapsing the span and sending six members of a roadwork crew plunging to their deaths.
Baltimore officials argue that the ship’s owner and manager should be held responsible for the disaster, which has halted most maritime traffic through the busy harbor and disrupted an important east coast trucking route. The filing argues that the economic impacts could be devastating for the Baltimore region.
“Petitioners’ negligence caused them to destroy the Key Bridge, and singlehandedly shut down 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 attorneys wrote.
Grace Ocean and Synergy have sought to limit their liability to roughly $43.6 million, according to court filings. Their petition estimates that the vessel itself is valued at up to $90 million and was owed over $1.1 million in income from freight. The estimate also deducts two major expenses: at least $28 million in repair costs and at least $19.5 million in salvage costs.
The court filings come after the FBI opened a criminal investigation to determine if the ship’s crew left the port knowing the vessel was in trouble. Meanwhile, a separate federal probe by the National Transportation Safety Board will focus on the Dali’s electrical system to determine if the ship experienced power issues before starting its voyage.
The tragic collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge has had a profound impact on the city of Baltimore, both emotionally and economically. The lawsuit filed by the city against the Dali’s owners and managers seeks to hold them accountable for their alleged negligence and to ensure that Baltimore receives the compensation it needs to rebuild and recover.
