- Baltimore officials blame Francis Scott Key Bridge collapse on Dali’s owner and operator.
- In a court filing Monday, they accused the ship of leaving port even after its alarms went off.
- The filing also accused the Dali’s crew of failing to follow local navigation rules and failing to be trained.
Baltimore city officials on Monday accused the owner and manager of the ship that crashed on the Francis Scott Key Bridge of allowing the vessel to put to sea when it was “clearly unseaworthy.” .
In a complaint filed against Synergy Marine, the manager of the Dali, and Grace Ocean, the ship’s owner, the city’s lawyers accused the two companies of “gross and potentially criminal negligence.”
The allegations follow a petition filed in Maryland federal court by the companies, both based in Singapore, asking that their liability in the bridge disaster be capped at $43.6 million.
Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott and the City Council are contesting the petition, asking that no limits be adopted.
Their filing contains a litany of allegations accusing Synergy Marine and Grace Ocean of negligence and reckless management that led to the March 26 bridge collapse.
“Reports indicated that, even before leaving port, alarms indicating inconsistent power supply on the Dali had gone off,” the court motion states. “The Dali still left port, despite its clearly unseaworthy condition.”
City officials further accused Dali officials of deploying an “incompetent crew” who were “inattentive to their duties,” lacked proper training, and “disrespected local navigational customs.”
A Synergy Marine spokesperson said it would be inappropriate to comment on ongoing legal proceedings. Grace Ocean did not immediately respond to a request for comment sent by Business Insider.
The Singapore-flagged Dali struck a support pillar of the Key Bridge early on the morning of March 26 while leaving Baltimore Harbor for Sri Lanka, causing most of the bridge span to collapse. in the Patapsco River.
Six construction workers who were repairing potholes on the bridge were killed.
Authorities found that the 984-foot vessel lost power as it headed toward the bridge, causing it to lose propulsion. The crew on board broadcast a distress call just before impact, allowing traffic police to seal off access to the bridge.
Two ship pilots, or local terrain and river experts, were on board the Dali at the time. These specialists usually advise the ship’s captain, who pilots the vessel, on navigation in these waters and weather conditions. The Dali’s 22 all-Indian crew members were unharmed.
The Key Bridge collapse deeply hurt Baltimore’s economy, cutting off shipping traffic to and from the city’s port — the ninth largest in the United States — and disrupting trucking routes. The port is estimated to generate approximately $15 million in economic activity daily.
“Tens of thousands of jobs directly depend on the port,” city officials say. There are fears of further knock-on effects on the regional economy, with port workers now out of work and unable to spend at local businesses.
The National Transportation Safety Board, which is leading the cleanup of the bridge site and the removal of containers that fell from the Patapsco, is investigating the cause of the collision.
The FBI also opened a criminal investigation last week to determine whether any of the Dali’s crew members may have known about system problems aboard the ship, the Washington Post reported.
Meanwhile, President Joe Biden said the federal government would fund the reconstruction of the Key Bridge and agreed to provide some $60 million in aid to the region.
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