Baltimore opposes capping shipowner’s liability in Key Bridge collapse

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The City of Baltimore is opposing an effort to cap the liability of the companies that own and manage the Dali, a 95,000-ton cargo ship that toppled the Francis Scott Key Bridge in the early morning of March 26.

The companies’ actions leading up to the disaster were “grossly and potentially criminally negligent,” the city’s lawyers wrote in a new filing.

The Dali was “clearly unseaworthy,” the city wrote, a claim that will have major implications for the companies’ efforts to limit their liability. The ship is owned by Grace Ocean Private Limited and managed by Synergy Marine Pte Ltd., which both filed a “limitation of liability” action just days after the crash.

The action is aimed at capping the amount of damages the companies could be forced to pay at about $43 million — the value of the Dali and its cargo.

The Dali remains grounded in the Patapsco River, where the vessel lost power before striking one of the Key Bridge’s support piers and sending much of the bridge tumbling into the water last month. The crash killed six members of a roadwork crew who were filling potholes on the bridge.

The city’s filing Monday is the first among what are expected to be many objections to the limitation of liability action.

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

“But Petitioners, Grace Ocean Private Limited and Synergy Marine Pte Ltd, saw fit to put a clearly unseaworthy vessel into the water. Petitioners’ actions were grossly and potentially criminally negligent. In no way should their liability be limited.”

The filing claims that the companies provided the vessel with an “incompetent crew that was inattentive to its duties,” “failed to comply with local navigation customs and/or usage,” and did not properly maintain the vessel or comply with industry standards, among a long list of other allegations.

The FBI is also conducting a criminal investigation into the crash and boarded the Dali last week. The ship reportedly experienced electrical issues before it left port but took off anyway, a source told the Associated Press.

“None of this should have happened. Reporting has indicated that, even before leaving port, alarms showing an inconsistent power supply on the Dali had sounded,” the city wrote in Monday’s filing. “The Dali left port anyway, despite its clearly unseaworthy condition.”

Baltimore’s Key Bridge destroyed: Everything you need to know

Baltimore hired Jeffrey P. Goodman, an accomplished lawyer with experience handling maritime disasters and structural collapses, to guide its claims related to the Key Bridge collapse. Sara Gross, the Baltimore Law Department’s chief of affirmative litigation, is also representing the city.

The Maryland Attorney General’s Office also recently issued a request for proposals for assistant counsel to participate in Key Bridge litigation. Responses were due last week.

Parties with claims against the Dali will have until Sept. 24 to file notice in federal court, though there is expected to be a lengthy court fight over whether the owner can successfully cap liability. If the owner had “privity or knowledge” of the issue that caused the crash, or if the ship wasn’t seaworthy before it left port, the limitation of liability action could fail, allowing claimants to pursue bigger monetary awards.

The city’s filing seeks damages, including the cost of replacing the Key Bridge, which is likely to far exceed the proposed $43 million liability cap; the costs associated with clearing the Patapsco River and reopening the Port of Baltimore for shipping; the expense of increased road maintenance and overtime for public employees who have responded to the disaster; and lost revenues caused by the shutdown of the port.