The US justice department on Wednesday sued the owner and manager of the cargo ship that caused the deadly collapse of a huge road bridge in Baltimore earlier this year, seeking to recover more than $100m that the government spent to clear the underwater debris and reopen the city’s port.
The companies recklessly cut corners and ignored known electrical problems on the vessel, the lawsuit alleged.
The lawsuit was filed in Maryland and alleges that the electrical and mechanical systems on the ship, the Dali, were improperly maintained, causing it to lose power and veer off course in the darkness before striking a vital support column on the Francis Scott Key bridge in March and causing a substantial portion of the massive bridge to crumple into the river, killing six road construction workers.
“This tragedy was entirely avoidable,” the government alleged in the lawsuit.
The collapse snarled commercial shipping traffic through the port of Baltimore for months before the channel was fully opened in June.
“With this civil claim, the justice department is working to ensure that the costs of clearing the channel and reopening the port of Baltimore are borne by the companies that caused the crash, not by the American taxpayer,” the US attorney general, Merrick Garland, said in a written statement.
The case was filed against the Dali owner, Grace Ocean Private Ltd, and its manager, Synergy Marine Group, both of Singapore. The companies filed a court petition days after the collapse seeking to limit their legal liability in what could become the most expensive marine casualty case in history.
The ship was leaving Baltimore bound for Sri Lanka when its steering failed because of the power loss. Six members of a roadwork crew on the bridge were killed in the collapse. Police had very quickly managed to stop traffic driving on to the bridge; otherwise, the death toll would likely have been much higher.
Still, although police blocked the approach roads, they did not have enough time to warn the road crew so that they could evacuate.
The men were working an overnight shift filling potholes on the bridge deck when it suddenly crumbled beneath them, sending them tumbling into the water.
“This accident happened because of the careless and grossly negligent decisions made by Grace Ocean and Synergy, who recklessly chose to send an unseaworthy vessel to navigate a critical waterway and ignored the risks to American lives and the nation’s infrastructure,” said Chetan Patil, the acting deputy assistant attorney general.
The tragedy was not averted because the companies facilitated an “ill-prepared crew on an abjectly unseaworthy vessel”, the complaint said.
“They did so to reap the benefit of conducting business in American ports. Yet they cut corners in ways that risked lives and infrastructure,” it added.
Justice department officials refused to answer questions on Wednesday about whether, in addition to a civil action, a criminal investigation into the bridge collapse remains ongoing.
Darrell Wilson, a spokesperson for Grace Ocean, said the owner and manager had no comment at this time but “look forward to our day in court to set the record straight”.
On Tuesday, the victims’ families declared their intent to file a claim seeking to hold the ship’s owner and manager fully liable for the disaster. Several other interested parties, including city officials and local businesses, have filed opposing claims accusing the companies of negligence.
The families are also calling for more robust workplace protections, especially for immigrant workers. All the victims were Latino immigrants who came to the United States in search of better-paying jobs and opportunities.
The Associated Press contributed reporting
