The construction company that employed the six men killed in the Francis Scott Key Bridge disaster filed a claim Wednesday against the operators of the container ship that caused the bridge’s collapse.
Brawner Builders is seeking relief for damages from the Dali’s owner, Singapore-based Grace Ocean Private, and manager, Synergy Marine Group.
The ship’s operators were “potentially grossly negligent and reckless,” the attorney representing Brawner Builders, Andrew Connolly, wrote in the claim filed in the U.S. District Court of Maryland.
The two companies failed to properly train the crew, provide the ship with adequate policies and procedures to ensure safe operation and to oversee and maintain the Dali’s system and engines, the claim alleges, calling the crew “inattentive” and “incompetent.”
Brawner’s action comes as the Justice Department outlined a case of alleged negligence and mismanagement by the Dali’s operators in a separate court filing Wednesday.
Grace Ocean and Synergy Marine previously asked the court to exonerate them from or limit their liability, saying they are not at fault. The deadline to respond to that petition is next week, and legal claims are flowing in.
CASA, an immigration advocacy nonprofit organization, announced Tuesday that some families of the workers are challenging the petition by Grace Ocean and Synergy Marine. More filings by relatives are expected in the coming days.
The men who lost their lives were part of a Brawner construction crew that was working overnight to fill potholes on the bridge. Those killed were José Mynor López, 37, of Baltimore; Alejandro Hernandez Fuentes, 35, of Baltimore; Dorlian Ronial Castillo Cabrera, 26, of Dundalk; Maynor Suazo Sandoval, 38, of Owings Mills; Miguel Angel Luna Gonzales, 49, of Glen Burnie; and Carlos Daniel Hernández, 24.
Brawner is seeking relief for the “invaluable lives” of the six employees, for the injuries of one survivor, and for the loss of multiple vehicles and equipment destroyed, in addition to attorney fees. The company did not specify an amount being sought.
In response to the Justice Department’s filing, Darrell Wilson, a spokesperson for Grace Ocean and Synergy Marine, said the “owner and manager will have no further comment on the merits of any claim at this time, but we do look forward to our day in court to set the record straight.”
A criminal investigation is ongoing, justice officials said, as well as a National Transportation Safety Board inquiry. CASA and others expressed outrage at the case the federal government laid out against the Dali operators in its response to their request to limit liability.
“This should not have happened, and that it’s the fault of Grace Ocean Private that these eight lives were forever changed, six of them taken forever,” said Jossie Flor Sapunar, national communications director for CASA.
Attorney Judson Lipowitz, who represents Sandoval’s relatives, said the families believe the Dali owner was negligent and that his clients will do “everything in their power” to hold the companies accountable.
Rosa Emerita Sandoval Paz, Maynor’s mother, told Lipowitz that it is “against the natural order for a mother to lose a child” and that she will be grieving for the rest of her life.
Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott welcomed the Department of Justice’s filing and called the alleged actions of the Dali’s operators and crew “shameful,” at a Wednesday morning news conference.
“I’m thinking about the communities impacted, thinking about how the city, how the state, how the nation was impacted,” Scott said. “That’s why we’ll be seeking justice in every way we can.”
The city is fighting in court to increase the amount of money Grace Ocean and Synergy Marine are liable to pay. Maryland Gov. Wes Moore’s office declined to comment on the new legal claims, but a spokesman said Moore “continues to do all in his power to ensure that Marylanders are not forced to pay for the damage caused by the Dali.”
Baltimore Banner staff writer Lee Sanderlin contributed to this report.
