US files US$103M lawsuit against owner and manager of box ship Dali

Potential liability and further claims

The DoJ stressed the claim does not include any damages for the reconstruction of the Francis Scott Key Bridge. 

A statement from the DoJ noted, “Since the State of Maryland built, owned, maintained and operated the bridge, attorneys on the State’s behalf may file their own claim for those damages. Subsequently, pursuant to the governing regulation, funds recovered by the State of Maryland for reconstruction of the bridge will be used to reduce the project costs paid by federal taxpayer dollars.”

For their part, both owner and operator initiated legal action seeking to limit their liability to US$43.7M, the value of the container ship Dali, using a federal law dating back to 1851.

The US government’s lawsuit is one of what is expected to be many claims against the Limitation of Liability Act case of Dali’s owner and technical manager. The remainder of claims are expected to be filed by 24 September.

The US DoJ’s civil suit seeks to recover costs incurred by government authorities in responding to the disaster, including removing the bridge parts from the channel, clearing the entangled wreck, the bridge debris and abating the risk of oil pollution. Government agencies claim they had to remove “about 50,000 tonnes of steel, concrete, and asphalt from the channel and from Dali itself.” 

The Fort McHenry Channel was cleared by early June and the Port of Baltimore reopened for commercial navigation.

The lawsuit alleges negligence on behalf of the ship’s owner and operator, accusing them of doing nothing to mitigate the issues on the ship. Specific assertions state that none of the four means that should have been available to help steer Dali – the propeller, rudder, anchor or bow thruster – worked when they were needed to avert or even mitigate a collision.

The DoJ’s claim also seeks punitive damages to deter the owner and operator of Dali and others. 

In May, the National Transportation Safety Board report found the first blackout on board Dali during the ship’s port stay in Baltimore occurred during maintenance on a scrubber system, and the second blackout was linked to low fuel pressure in a backup generator. 

“The owner and operator of Dali were well aware of vibration issues on the vessel that could cause a power outage. But instead of taking necessary precautions, they did the opposite,” said Principal Deputy Associate Attorney General Benjamin Mizer. 

“Out of negligence, mismanagement, and, at times, a desire to cut costs, they configured the ship’s electrical and mechanical systems in a way that prevented those systems from being able to quickly restore propulsion and steering after a power outage. As a result, when Dali lost power, a cascading set of failures led to disaster.”

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