The Justice Department has filed a lawsuit seeking over $100 million in damages from the owner and manager of the cargo ship that caused the deadly Baltimore bridge collapse. The lawsuit alleges that the companies, Grace Ocean Private Ltd. and Synergy Marine Group, were reckless in their maintenance of the vessel, leading to a power outage moments before the ship crashed into the Francis Scott Key Bridge. Six construction workers lost their lives in the disaster.
The companies are accused of cutting corners and ignoring known electrical problems on the ship, resulting in a series of failures that left the crew helpless in the face of disaster. The lawsuit claims that the mechanical and electrical systems on the ship were improperly maintained and “jury-rigged,” leading to the tragic event. The complaint alleges that the companies placed an ill-prepared crew on an unseaworthy vessel in order to conduct business in American ports.
Following the collapse, the companies filed a court petition seeking to limit their legal liability, but the Justice Department has vowed to vigorously contest this bid. Attorney General Merrick Garland stated that the government is working to ensure that the costs of clearing the channel and reopening the Port of Baltimore are borne by the companies responsible for the crash, rather than the American taxpayer. The victims’ families and the company that employed the workers who died in the collapse have also filed claims seeking damages.
Investigations into the collapse revealed that the ship had experienced power issues prior to the incident. Safety investigators discovered a loose cable on the vessel that triggered an electrical blackout similar to what occurred when it crashed into the bridge. The Justice Department complaint highlighted excessive vibrations on the ship as a known cause of transformer and electrical failure. It alleges that instead of addressing the source of the vibrations, crew members “jury-rigged” the ship, leading to cracked equipment, loose nuts and bolts, and broken electrical cable ties.
The lawsuit also claims that safety features on the ship, such as the automation for transferring power during an outage, were recklessly disabled. This led to a one-minute delay in restoring power manually, resulting in the tragic events that followed. The complaint alleges that a cost-cutting measure, the disabling of the automation, and a separate problem with the ship’s fuel pumps led to the disaster. The Justice Department asserts that if the transformers had been in automatic mode, the devastating tragedy could have been avoided. The ship’s pilots were reportedly desperate to avoid disaster, but the critical systems, including the anchor and bow thruster, were unavailable at the time.
