U.S. authorities filed a lawsuit Wednesday seeking more than $100 million in damages from the Singaporean companies that owned and operated the container ship that caused a bridge crucial to the U.S. economy to collapse in March.
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On March 26, the container ship Dali, which was leaving the port of Baltimore (east), suffered several electrical failures and crashed into the Francis Scott Key highway bridge, which collapsed like a house of cards.
It took more than two months of work to restore normal maritime traffic in the port, starting on June 10.
The complaint filed Wednesday by the Ministry of Justice against Singaporean companies Grace Ocean and Synergy Marine, respectively the owner and manager of the vessel, aims to recover the expenses incurred by the federal government in these operations.
“Through this civil lawsuit, the Justice Department seeks to place the costs of cleaning the channel and reopening the Port of Baltimore on the companies that caused the accident, not on American taxpayers,” Justice Secretary Merrick Garland said in a statement.
“This accident was caused by the gross negligence of Grace Ocean and Synergy, who recklessly chose to send an unseaworthy vessel into a crucial shipping lane while ignoring the risks to American lives and national infrastructure,” Chetan Patil, a senior ministry official, was quoted as saying in the text.
The complaint also seeks to challenge the request filed in April by the two Singaporean companies in the US courts to limit their exposure to a maximum of $43.67 million.
Six workers carrying out repair work on the bridge, all Latin American immigrants, died.
Their families have announced their intention to take legal action of their own.
As for the cost of rebuilding the bridge, since it is Maryland state property, it will be up to state authorities to seek compensation in court, the department stressed.
