The owner and manager of the container ship Dali have agreed to pay $102m to cover the cost of reopening the channel to the port of Baltimore following March’s catastrophic bridge crash.
The US Justice Department said Singapore’s Grace Ocean and ship management group Synergy Marine have settled a civil claim arising from the destruction of the Francis Scott Key Bridge.
The deal is part of a complex legal case surrounding the 9,962-teu container ship (built 2015).
The US government had claimed damages of $103m under the Rivers & Harbors Act, Oil Pollution Act and general maritime law.
The cash will go to the US Treasury and several federal agencies directly affected by the crash.
Principal deputy associate attorney general Benjamin Mizer said: “Nearly seven months after one of the worst transportation disasters in recent memory, which claimed six lives and caused untold damage, we have reached an important milestone with today’s settlement.
“Thanks to the hard work of the Justice Department attorneys since day one of this disaster, we were able to secure this early settlement of our claim, just over one month into litigation.”
The department said the ship lost power before striking and collapsing the bridge, blocking all shipping for weeks.
US agencies removed about 50,000 tons of steel, concrete and asphalt from the channel and from the Dali itself.
Legal action began in September to recover the costs.
Legal battle to continue
The settlement does not include any costs for the reconstruction of the Francis Scott Key Bridge, a claim filed by the state of Maryland.
Synergy said in a statement sent to TradeWinds that no punitive damages were imposed as part of the settlement.
The cost is fully insured.
The company and Grace Ocean still reject liability for the incident.
Synergy added that the two firms have been cooperating with the government from the start.
“The settlement strictly covers costs related to clearing the channel, which we would have been responsible for in any case, and is not indicative of any liability, which we expressly reject for the incident that led to the collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge,” it said.
Synergy explained that the US claim was significantly different from others, in that it fell outside the usual limitation of liability framework.
“Grace Ocean and Synergy are prepared to vigorously defend themselves in the limitation of liability proceedings pending before the Federal Court in Baltimore and to establish that they were not responsible for the incident,” it added.
Last week, coal exporter Consol Energy filed a claim for more than $100m it said it suffered in losses over the collapse.
More than 45 groups and individuals — from the US government to families moving home — have lodged claims against the owner and operator.
