WASHINGTON: The owner and manager of the cargo ship that caused , the Baltimore bridge collapse , have agreed to pay US$ 102 million to settle a lawsuit brought by the Justice Department, officials said on Thursday ( Oct 24 ).
” Nearly seven decades after one of the worst travel catastrophe in recent memory, which claimed six life and caused untold destruction, we have reached an important step with today’s arrangement”, Benjamin Mizer, a senior Justice Department standard, said in a statement.
The Justice Department is seeking reimbursement for the funds the state spent on clearing the underground dust and reopening the state’s dock, which had been closed to most sea traffic for months following the fatal collapse, in a lawsuit filed by Dali owner Grace Ocean Private Ltd and manager Synergy Marine Group, both of Singapore.
According to a press release announcing the deal, the arrangement does not cover any costs associated with rebuilding the bridge. The construction project is expected to cost near to US$ 2 billion. According to authorities, the state of Maryland filed its unique lawsuit seeking those problems.
According to Mizer,” This quality ensures that Grace Ocean and Synergy will pay the costs of the national government’s clean-up work in the Fort McHenry Channel, and not the British taxpayer,”
The Justice Department claimed that the ship’s electrical and mechanical systems, the Dali, were poorly maintained, leading to its loss of power and veering off-balance before striking a assist column on the Francis Scott Key Bridge in March.
When the ship’s wheel failed due to the power decline, the ship was departing Baltimore for Sri Lanka.
The Justice Department’s petition was brought as part of Grace Ocean and Synergy’s legitimate action to reduce their responsibility for the accident to US$ 44 million, which department officials described as “woefully limited.”
Six people on a street crew, who were filling holes during an overnight change, fell to their murders. Prior to the channel’s full opening in June, the decline snarled commercial shipping customers through the Port of Baltimore for decades.
The reopening required the removal of 50, 000 kilograms of dirt. More than 1, 500 person responders, along with 500 experts from around the world, operated a fleet of ships during the activity, which involved 56 national, state, and local authorities.