Current Events > DOJ settles with ship company over Baltimore Key Bridge collapse for $102M

(+) Yeah! (+)

The U.S. Justice Department and the companies that own and managed the Dali, the ship that crashed into the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore, reached a nearly $102 million settlement Thursday.

The agreement comes one month after the federal government sued the companies to recoup the costs for the responding to the March 26 disaster that killed six people and caused the Key Bridge to collapse.

The settlement is only about $1 million less than what the Justice Department originally asked from the companies.

The companies are being sued by the state of Maryland, Baltimore city and County, the families of the victims, local businesses, unions of employees at the Port of Baltimore and companies that had cargo on the ship.

Grace Ocean filed for limited liability under the Limitation of Liability Act of 1851, which allows ship owners to reduce their exposure under certain circumstances.

That law could cap the damages the companies pay at about $44 million.

Those suing the companies need to show the company was negligent in order to vacate that cap in court.

In its filing, Baltimore is making the case that Grace Ocean provided the ship with an incompetent crew, unseaworthy equipment and failed to maintain the vessel in a reasonable manner.

2 billion just to rebuild the bridge?

https://www.baltimoresun.com/2024/05/02/new-key-bridge-estimate/

That is just a preliminary estimate but it wasn't exactly a small bridge. About 1.6 miles long.

2 billion just to rebuild the bridge?

In its filing, Baltimore is making the case that Grace Ocean provided the ship with an incompetent crew, unseaworthy equipment and failed to maintain the vessel in a reasonable manner.

I don't feel like skimming the article. Was the company found to be at fault? Like they should have done some thing different, missed key maintenance, etc? Or was it just a simple case of "Your ship caused the damage, so you're paying, even if it was an unavoidable freak accident" ?

They technically weren't found at fault because it was settled out of court. But the DOJ was alleging that the companies involved were cutting corners to save costs and were negligent in their maintenance and that's what led to the crash. The fact the companies settled for almost what the DOJ was asking suggests they didn't think they had a good defense for those allegations if it had gone to trial.