The owner and the operator of the vessel that caused the collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge in March have agreed to a settlement regarding the civil lawsuit filed by the U.S. Department of Justice in September.
Grace Ocean Private Limited and Synergy Marine Private Limited have agreed to pay $101,908,000 to resolve the DOJ’s civil claim seeking $103,078,056 under the Rivers and Harbors Act, Oil Pollution Act and general maritime law, a news release said.
Approximately 50,000 tons of steel, concrete and asphalt from the Key Bridge were removed from the Fort McHenry Channel, while temporary channels were set up to alleviate economic devastation and relieve the bottleneck at the port. Fort McHenry Channel was cleared as of June 10, allowing the Port of Baltimore to reopen for commercial navigation.
“Nearly seven months after one of the worst transportation disasters in recent memory, which claimed six lives and caused untold damage, we have reached an important milestone with today’s settlement,” Principal Deputy Associate Attorney General Benjamin C. Mizer said in a statement. “This resolution ensures that the costs of the federal government’s cleanup efforts in the Fort McHenry Channel are borne by Grace Ocean and Synergy and not the American taxpayer.”
PoB’s Deputy Executive Director Brian Miller briefed @HarfordCountyMD on the PoB’s recovery and gave an update on the Howard Street Tunnel Project.
This will give PoB double-stacked rail, increasing business by 160k containers annually and creating 13K jobs. https://t.co/yQGRQQ8bt5
— Port of Baltimore (@portofbalt) October 28, 2024
According to the DOJ, the Key Bridge settlement of more than $100 million will go to the U.S. Treasury and the budgets of several federal agencies affected by the collision or involved in the response to it.
The civil lawsuit filed by the DOJ was part of legal action taken by the vessel companies to seek exoneration or limit their liability shortly after the crash into and subsequent collapse of the Key Bridge.
This settlement does not cover any damages for the reconstruction of the bridge, as it is owned, operated and maintained by the state of Maryland.
Additional legal proceedings, including lawsuits by the city of Baltimore as well as the state of Maryland, are pending.
However, a spokesman for the owners of the ship said this civil settlement does not indicate any liability regarding other claims.
Grace Ocean Private Limited recently paid $97,294 to the U.S. Coast Guard’s National Pollution Fund Center for costs incurred to abate the threat of oil pollution resulting from the Key Bridge incident, the DOJ said in a news release. LL
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