U.S. Justice Department files $100 million claim over Baltimore bridge collapse

File photo shows a U.S. Coast Guard boat approaches clean-up operations at the Francis Scott Key Bridge as the main shipping channel prepares to fully reopen, in Baltimore. File
| Photo Credit: Reuters

The U.S. Department of Justice has filed a response in a Maryland court demanding more than $100 million in damages from Grace Ocean Pvt Ltd and Synergy Marine Pvt Ltd, the owner and the manager of containership Dali that crashed into a bridge off Baltimore on March 26. This led to six deaths and injuries to two persons, besides requiring a salvage operation and shutdown of the Baltimore port for many months.

The response filed was to a limited liability claim made by the owner and the manager soon after the accident.

The Justice Department has called the tragedy “entire avoidable” and put the responsibility for the accident on the owner and the manager, alleging improper maintenance, violation of international safety and other norms, as well as an improperly trained crew.

Dali’s crew was almost entirely Indian. Synergy Marine, registered in Singapore, has Indians in key leadership positions with an operational base in Chennai and Mumbai, besides employing thousands of Indian seafarers on ships it manages.

Any merchant ship has a propeller run by an engine that moves it forward and back. A rudder controlled by a steering gear turns the ship left and right. Dali also had a bow thruster that can move it sideways. With these, Dali’s movements can be controlled.

As the ship was manoeuvring out of the port into the Chesapeake Bay, there was a blackout onboard. The Justice Department response says the ship had a history of heavy vibrations that were not addressed. The vibrations likely led to some power supply cables coming loose, leading to the switching off of a transformer and, hence, a blackout.

As per global norms, the emergency generator should have started after the blackout and provided power within 45 seconds. But that did not happen. The standby transformer was switched on after a delay and power was restored.

The response notes that Dali’s running generators were being supplied fuel by a “flushing” pump against norms that mandate the use of two large dedicated pumps. This was done to cut costs, the response alleged.

The flushing pump was not switched on after the blackout. So, starved of fuel, the generators offloaded, leading to a second blackout.

Without power, the engine could not be operated to stop the ship. There was no steering either. But the ship was moving forward under its own momentum and veering dangerously to the right towards the bridge pier.

At this time, the pilots ordered that the left side anchor should be dropped against the rightward drift but the ship staff were unable to drop the anchor quickly, according to the response. The pilots were told the bow thruster could not be operated either.