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Two years after the Francis Scott Key Bridge collapsed, the Weeks 533 crane drives a pile beneath the Patapsco River on the site of a new bridge. (Dan Belson/The Daily Record)
Key Bridge collapse: Judge throws out Dali owners’ lawsuit against shipbuilder
A federal judge in Philadelphia dismissed the Dali shipowners’ lawsuit alleging that Hyundai Heavy Industries sold them a defective freighter years before it crashed into Baltimore‘s Francis Scott Key Bridge.
In a Monday opinion, U.S. District Judge Kai N. Scott found that the ship’s owner and manager were both bound by the terms of a 2021 settlement agreement signed by Grace Ocean Private Ltd. and Hyundai, in which the former waived claims relating to the ship’s construction and warranty for a sum of $170,800.
Although Scott didn’t rule on the application of that part of the settlement to the claim over the 2024 fatal bridge collapse, he dismissed the action in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania based on forum non conveniens, Latin for “an inconvenient forum.” He found that the agreement’s forum-selection clause favored Hyundai’s desire to take the matter to court in South Korea, where most of the witnesses and other “sources of proof” are located.
Spokespeople for Grace Ocean, operator Synergy and Hyundai did not immediately return requests for comment Monday afternoon.
The case’s dismissal likely doesn’t spell the end of litigation with Hyundai over the bridge collapse, which killed six and caused billions in damage.
In addition to a possible court action in South Korea, the matter is also slated for arbitration in London, though Grace Ocean and Synergy dispute that their claims are arbitrable. And Maryland’s $2.25 billion settlement against Grace Ocean and Synergy commits the state to pursuing a claim against Hyundai and repaying the shipowners part of the recovery amount.
This story might be updated.
5 law firms get payout from MD’s Key Bridge case. Here’s how much they made. – Maryland Daily Record
