- Maryland AG Anthony Brown sued Grace Ocean Private Limited and Synergy Marine Pte Ltd., the owners and operators of the container ship M/V DALI, alleging that their reckless and grossly negligent conduct caused the DALI’s collision with the Francis Scott Key Bridge on March 26, 2024, which destroyed the bridge, caused the death of six people and injuries to two others, and resulted in both immediate and long-lasting harm to Maryland and its residents.
- In the admiralty action filed in federal district court, AG Brown alleges that Grace Ocean and Synergy Marine recklessly and negligently decided to send the DALI out in patently unseaworthy condition, knowing of the DALI’s prior power failures and failing to diagnose or correct these failures or report them to the two pilots who boarded the ship to guide its departure from the port. As such, AG Brown argues that they are liable for damages arising from the collision with the bridge under maritime law and under state and federal environmental laws prohibiting the unauthorized discharge of hazardous substances, oil, pollutants, and other waste, and other laws. The AG also urges the court to reject the attempt by Grace Ocean and Synergy Marine to limit their liability for damages associated with the DALI’s collision.
- The action seeks monetary damages covering the cost of repairing the bridge and other direct costs, loss of revenue, damages to the state’s natural resources, costs to investigate, clean up, remove, restore, treat, monitor, and otherwise respond to actual or threatened environmental contamination, costs and fees, among other relief.