BALTIMORE — The Department of Justice is fighting to recoup all costs related to the Key Bridge Collapse.
In a Wednesday court filing DOJ officials blamed the tragedy on the DALI ship that collided with the bridge.
The U.S. Attorney's Office in Maryland issued the strongest rebuke to date of the vessel's owner and manager, Grace Ocean Private Limited and Synergy Marine Pte Ltd.
Court documents reveal devastating details leading to the disaster that left six workers dead.
The DOJ says the aftermath cost the country $100,000,000.
Grace Ocean and Synergy have denied any wrongdoing,petitioning a federal judge to either fully exonerate them or limit liability to $43 million, which they claim the ship's now worth after losses and damages.
The DOJ pushed back urging the judge to deny their motion, calling the amount "woefully inadequate."
"The ship’s owner and manager—who now ask the Court to limit their liability to less than $44 million—sent an ill-prepared crew on an abjectly unseaworthy vessel to navigate the United States waterways," U.S. Attorneys argued. "They did so to reap the benefit of conducting business in American ports. Yet they cut corners in ways that risked lives and infrastructure."
In their filing the DOJ lists a number of avoidable failures, placing direct responsibility on the ship's owner and manager.
"The electrical and mechanical systems on the DALI were improperly maintained and configured in a way that violated safety regulations and norms for international shipping," U.S. Attorneys wrote. "Those responsible for the vessel must be held fully accountable for the catastrophic harm they caused, and punitive damages should be imposed to deter such misconduct."
According to the DOJ's own investigation, the DALI experienced prior issues with excessive vibrating that damaged the ship's critical electrical and engineering systems, causing its switchboards and transformers to malfunction.
"During recent inspections aboard the DALI, the ship was found to have loose bolts, nuts, and washers and broken electrical cable ties inside the step-down transformers and electrical switchboards," the DOJ said in court documents. "The ship's electrical equipment was in such poor condition that an independent testing agency discontinued further electrical testing due to safety concerns."
Synergy Marine was reportedly notified of the vibrating in May 2023, but never alerted the manufacturer, Hyundai Heavy Industries.
The DALI docked at the Port of Baltimore on March 23, departing shortly after midnight on March 26.
While docked, the ship lost power on two separate occasions, neither of which was reported to the Coast Guard as required.
The DOJ noted how the DALI's captain turned the ship over to a local pilot who was to lead its next voyage to Sri Lanka.
Despite being well aware of the vibrating and recent power outages, the captain failed to relay this information to the oncoming pilot as mandated.
After setting sail from Baltimore, it was a mere 45 minutes later the DALI experienced another outage.
Here's the DOJ's explanation of what happened.
"These circuit breakers opened because of a loss of electrical continuity through control circuitry that was necessary to keep the breakers from tripping, which circuitry had loosened over time from excessive vibration," U.S. Attorneys explained. "This first loss of power was caused by the gross negligence of the ship’s owners, operators, managers, and their employees, and by unseaworthy conditions of the ship, which were known, or should have been known, by Petitioners or their agents."
The DOJ said the power restoration process was unnecessarily delayed.
Officials believe the ship's transformers should've been placed in automatic mode, rather than manual before disembarking.
"Had the transformers been in the automatic control mode, the circuit breakers for the number 2 step-down transformer would have closed automatically after only a few seconds, restoring lighting, steering, and propulsion. This would have occurred rapidly and without crew intervention," the DOJ opined. "Had the step-down transformers been in the automatic mode, the DALI would not have lost power and steering for any meaningful period of time, and the devastating tragedy that ensued would not have occurred."
After crews scrambled to restore power, it went back off 65 seconds later setting off more panic.
DOJ investigators partly attributed the second outage to the DALI's fuel supply system.
Court documents suggest crews used the ship's flushing pump instead of supply and booster fuel pumps.
"While improper, this was not unusual for the DALI," stated the DOJ. "Petitioners chose to use the flushing pump, instead of the proper supply and booster pumps, as a matter of economy and convenience."
Attorneys explained how flushing pumps aren't designed for automatic recovery from a blackout, meaning they never turned back on after the first outage.
Instead a pneumatic pump kicked in, but wasn't able to handle the load of fuel pressure needed on a large ship like the DALI.
Due to lack of fuel, the ship computers took the auxiliary engines offline causing the circuit breakers to open, which killed the switchboard, leaving the DALI powerless.
This time it was too late to correct course before striking the bridge.
"The DALI also failed to release the port anchor in a timely manner to help swing the ship away from the Francis Scott Key Bridge," the DOJ concluded. "This was caused by an unseaworthy condition in the vessel, lack of adequate training for the crew, and/or lack of proper procedures to ensure that the anchors were prepared for immediate release in the event of a loss of control."
At the time of impact, eight construction workers were on the bridge. Six died.
Things could've been worse, luckily police were able to stop and clear vehicular traffic from the bridge before its collapse.
In closing the DOJ says the DALI's argument in limiting their liability is flawed.
The ship's owners cited an 1851 law called the Limitation of Liability Act, but the DOJ countered invoking a 1977 court case that determined "such accidents simply do not occur in the ordinary course of things unless the vessel has been mismanaged in some way.”
It should be noted the FBI also launched a criminal investigation into the crash.
Grace Ocean and Synergy said they anticipated lawsuits and look forward to their day in court to "set the record straight."
All this comes as the families of three workers (Alejandro Hernandez Fuentes, Dorlian Ronial Castillo Cabrera, and Carlos Daniel Hernandez Estrella) filed wrongful death lawsuits.
The City of Baltimore is suing as well, even though the State of Maryland owned and operated the bridge.
It's estimated a new bridge will cost between $1.7 and $1.9 billion. The State's already awarded a $73 million contract for the design.If all goes to plan, the bridge could be rebuilt by Fall 2028.
A federal judge has given all parties until September 24 to file a claim.
