Grace Ocean Private Limited and Synergy Marine Private Limited, the Singaporean corporations that owned and operated the cargo ship that destroyed Baltimore’s Francis Scott Key bridge, will pay $102 million to resolve a civil claim for costs incurred by the disaster, collapse, recovery and implosion.
The settlement announced by the Department of Justice on Thursday comes after the two Singaporean firms attempted to rely on an 1851 law that capped its liability at $44 million in the aftermath of the costly catastrophe. The disaster occurred last March, when the Dali motor vessel left the Port of Baltimore and set a course for Sri Lanka. As it sailed through the Fort McHenry Channel, the vessel struggled to maintain and then regain full power, before ramming into the bridge. Within seconds, the Baltimore Bridge collapsed and ultimately killed six people. The shipwreck and what was left of the bridge then blocked the channel, bringing shipping in and out of the port to a gridlock. The disaster also cut off a highway, blocking commuters.
