Dali’s Owners Agree to Pay U.S. $100M for Bridge Crash

A wreckage of the Dali container ship near the Port of Baltimore

The wreckage of the Dali container ship. Photo: David Adams, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers

The owners and operators of the Dali container ship that crashed into Baltimore's Francis Scott Key Bridge March 26 have been ordered to pay the U.S. government more than $100 million in damages, the U.S. justice department has announced.

BBC News reports that Grace Ocean Private Limited and Synergy Marine Private Limited, the companies that owned and operated the Dali have agreed to pay $101.98 million to resolve a civil claim. The DOJ filed the claim on September 18 against the companies, demanding that they cover the costs incurred from responding to and clearing the wreckage of the bridge. The settlement does not include any damages for the reconstruction of the Francis Scott Key Bridge. The state of Maryland brought a lawsuit on September 24 for lost toll revenues, environmental damage, and costs linked to clean-up efforts and rebuilding the bridge.

The justice department called the collision, which killed six and sent tonnes of debris into the river, "one of the worst transportation disasters in recent memory.” A report from the National Transportation Safety Board revealed that the Dali had experienced multiple electrical failures hours before it left the Port of Baltimore, before another blackout just before the ship crashed into the Key Bridge. It alleged the Dali was inadequately maintained.

Payment from the federal lawsuit will go to the U.S. Treasury and other federal agencies directly affected by the collision or involved in the response.

“This is a tremendous outcome that fully compensates the United States for the costs it incurred in responding to this disaster and holds the owner and operator of the Dali accountable,” said Brian Boynton, head of the justice department’s civil division, in a press release on October 24. “The prompt resolution of this matter also avoids the expense associated with litigating this complex case for potentially years.”

The Port of Baltimore reopened in June for commercial navigation.