Justice Department Sues Ship Owner, Operator Over Baltimore Bridge

Facts

• The US Department of Justice on Wednesday filed a lawsuit against the owner and operator of the cargo ship involved in the collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore.^[1]
• The civil case seeks more than $100M in costs related to clearing the wreckage and reopening the Port of Baltimore, as well as punitive damages to hold the companies accountable for the disaster.^[2]
• Singapore-based Grace Ocean Private and Synergy Marine Private — the owner and operator of the vessel, respectively — are accused of negligence and mismanagement.^[3]
• The Dali container ship crashed into the bridge in March — causing it to collapse and killing six workers — after suffering a power loss. Commercial shipping traffic through the port was disrupted for several months afterwards.^[4]
• The state of Maryland could still seek damages from the shipowner to rebuild the Francis Scott Key bridge, a project which it is estimated will cost billions of dollars.^[5]
• Earlier this year, a short time after the bridge collapsed, Grace Ocean and Synergy Marine filed a legal action requesting their liability for the incident be limited to $44M — a Sept. 24 deadline is in place for any potential challenges to that cap.^[6][3]

Sources: ^[1]United States Department of Justice, ^[2]Wsj, ^[3]Al Jazeera, ^[4]Voice of America, ^[5]USA Today and ^[6]Washington Examiner.

Narratives

• Narrative A, as provided by Associated Press. This tragedy was completely avoidable, and the companies responsible for it must be held accountable. Six people tragically lost their lives, and a major American port experienced a great deal of interference for several months due to the negligence of these business owners. The irresponsible decision to let a questionably sea worthy vessel with a poorly trained crew continue to sail threatened both lives and infrastructure.
• Narrative B, as provided by Boston University. This was a tragic accident caused by multiple factors and blame cannot be solely placed on the owner and operator of one ship. The bridge lacked many structural supports that could have prevented a collapse, while the ship had passed previous inspections. Additionally, there was no back up steering, such as a tug boat escort, to help the ship out of the harbor when it lost power. Scrutiny must be broadened to other elements surrounding this disaster.

Predictions