The wreckage of the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore: six workers died when a container ship hit the bridge in March. Photograph: Kenny Holston/The New York TimesThe owner and the operator of the container ship that slammed into the Francis Scott Key Bridge in March, killing six workers and shutting down the Port of Baltimore for weeks, have agreed to pay more than $100 million to settle a civil claim brought by the US justice department.
“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,” principal deputy associate attorney general Benjamin Mizer said in a statement. A spokesperson for Grace Ocean Private Ltd., which owns the Dali ship, and Synergy Marine Private Ltd., which operates the vessel, did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The companies are based in Singapore.
In its suit, filed in September, the justice department laid out in detail what investigators had learned about the ship’s short and catastrophic journey on March 26th, describing a cascade of failures on-board and multiple points when the disaster could have been prevented.
Instead, just before dawn, the Dali, which was bound for Sri Lanka, lost power as it pulled out of the port, regained power and then lost power again before striking the bridge, which collapsed and plunged into the water, killing six people working on the bridge. The ship and the fallen bridge blocked the channel and severed a transportation artery, bringing maritime business to a halt.