Ship that tore down Baltimore’s Francis Scott Key Bridge was ‘unseaworthy,’ city claims

The massive container ship that tore down Baltimore’s Francis Scott Key Bridge last month was “unseaworthy” when it left port — and its owners should be held fully liable for the deadly collapse, city officials claimed in court papers.

The city of Baltimore has accused the owner and manager of the container ship Dali of negligence over the March 26 bridge collapse that left six dead, arguing the companies should have realized the 980-foot-long vessel was unfit for voyage because it had experienced a power supply problem just hours earlier.

The claims were laid bare in court documents filed Monday as city officials responded to an earlier petition submitted by the Dali’s owners and manager that asked a court to cap their liability for the collapse under a pre-Civil War provision of an 1851 maritime law.

A federal court in Maryland will ultimately decide who is responsible for the tragedy and how much they are liable for in what could become one of the most expensive maritime disasters in history.

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In their filing, attorneys for the mayor and city council clapped back at claims the Singapore-based Grace Ocean Private Ltd., which owns the ship, and Synergy Marine Pte Ltd., the vessel’s manager, weren’t responsible.

They argued, in part, that the two companies should have realized the Dali was not seaworthy and manned the ship with a competent crew.

“For more than four decades, cargo ships made thousands of trips every year under the Key Bridge without incident,” the city’s complaint reads. “There was nothing about March 26, 2024 that should have changed that.”

The crash was a direct result of the owner and operators’ “carelessness, negligence, gross negligence, and recklessness, and as a result of the unseaworthiness of the vessel,” the city argued.

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The ship, capable of carrying nearly 130,000 tons of cargo, had just set off en route to Sri Lanka when it lost power shortly after leaving the Baltimore port and struck one of the bridge’s support columns, collapsing the span and sending six members of a road crew plunging to their deaths.

Baltimore officials argue the ship’s owner and manager should be held responsible for the disaster, which has halted most maritime traffic through the busy harbor and disrupted an important East Coast trucking route.

The economic impacts could be devastating for the Baltimore region, the filing argues.

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“Petitioners’ negligence caused them to destroy the Key Bridge, and singlehandedly shut down the Port of Baltimore, a source of jobs, municipal revenue, and no small amount of pride for the City of Baltimore and its residents,” the attorneys wrote.

Grace Ocean and Synergy have sought to cap their liability at roughly $43.6 million, according to court filings.

Their petition estimates that the vessel itself is valued at up to $90 million and was owed over $1.1 million in income from freight. The estimate also deducts two major expenses: at least $28 million in repair costs and at least $19.5 million in salvage costs.

The court filings come after the FBI opened a criminal investigation to determine if the ship’s crew left port knowing the vessel was troubled.

Meanwhile, a separate federal probe by the National Transportation Safety Board will focus on the Dali’s electrical system to determine if the ship experienced power issues before starting its voyage, officials have said.

With Post wires