Owner and operator of ship that caused bridge collapse in Baltimore to pay $100 million

2024-10-25 07:25:00, Kosova & Bota CNA

Owner and operator of ship that caused bridge collapse in Baltimore to pay $100

The two companies that own and operate the cargo ship that caused the bridge to collapse near Baltimore Harbor have agreed to pay more than $100 million to settle a lawsuit brought by the Justice Department out of court, officials said Thursday. .

The agreement comes a month after the Department of Justice filed a lawsuit against the company that owns the Dali ship, Grace Ocean Private Ltd. and the company that manages it, Synergy Marine Group, both based in Singapore.

The lawsuit sought damages for more than $100 million spent by the US government to clean up the waste and reopen the Baltimore City pot.

"This resolution ensures that the costs of the federal government's Fort McHenry Canal cleanup efforts are borne by Grace Ocean and Synergy, not the American taxpayer," said Benjamin Mizer, the third-ranking official in a statement. senior in the Department of Justice.

The Justice Department raised allegations that electrical and mechanical systems on the Dali were not properly maintained, leading to the accident that sent the ship off course before crashing into a leg of the Francis Scott Key Bridge in March.

The collapse of a section of the bridge caused months of disruption to commercial shipping through the Port of Baltimore before the waterway was fully reopened in June.

In late March, the freighter Dali suffered an electrical failure about 10 hours before leaving Baltimore Harbor and again shortly before it struck the Francis Scott Key Bridge, killing six bridge maintenance workers. federal investigators said in May.

The consequences could have been much greater if the police had not acted quickly to stop the traffic. Within about 90 seconds, after a dispatcher radioed a warning that a massive cargo ship had lost control and was heading toward the bridge, police officers were able to stop vehicular traffic on both sides of the bridge.

The 299-metre-long Dali from Singapore was on its way from the port of Baltimore to Sri Lanka when it collided with the bridge.

In early June, officials announced the reopening of the Fort McHenry Canal after clearing debris from the 213-foot-wide, 15-foot-deep canal.

Officials have said that they hope that the work on the construction of the bridge will be completed by 2028./ Voa