The Justice Department will seek $100M in damages from the owners and operators of the Dali container ship, which destroyed Baltimore's Key Bridge and killed six workers in March. The lawsuit, which also seeks an unstated amount in punitive damages, comes alongside other state and city lawsuits, as well as an ongoing FBI criminal investigation.
The lawsuit alleges Singaporean-based owner Grace Ocean and operator Marine Synergy Group applied insufficient, "Band-Aid" fixes to systemic power issues. In part, the lawsuit cites a power failure on Dali the day before the crash that the ship did not report to the US Coast Guard. The owners have sought to use a centuries-old maritime law to limit liability to roughly $44M.
The 100,000-ton freighter lost power and crashed into the sole road spanning across Baltimore's harbor, cutting off a key trucking route and closing the city's port for weeks (watch timeline). The bridge is expected to cost close to $2B over four years.
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