Maryland Gov. Wes Moore and Attorney General Anthony Brown are planning “a major announcement” on Tuesday related to the cargo ship that crashed into Baltimore’s Francis Scott Key Bridge, sending it toppling into the Patapsco River nearly six months ago.
Neither official offered details on their announcement. But it comes just before a deadline to file claims in an ongoing legal case surrounding the M/V Dali ship.
Earlier this year, Grace Ocean Private and Synergy Marine Group, the owner and manager of the Dali, respectively, filed a case in federal court seeking to restrict their exposure in the catastrophe to $43.67 million. That amount represents the estimated value of the ship and its cargo.
Multiple parties have since filed their own claims in the case seeking payment for damages, including Baltimore’s government, the families of construction workers who were killed, some businesses who said they were affected and the U.S. Department of Justice, which alleges that negligence and mismanagement led to the vessel being unseaworthy.
State officials laid the groundwork for the litigation months ago.
Typically the Office of the Attorney General represents the state government in court, but Brown sought permission back in May to hire outside lawyers because the case is so complex and beyond the scope of his office’s usual duties. Five law firms have been hired on contingency contracts, meaning that they’ll receive a portion of any money recovered for the state, rather than the state paying them up front.
The state’s efforts could be helped by a new state law that was approved in the wake of the ship strike and bridge collapse.
The law requires a judge or jury handling a Key Bridge lawsuit to assign “comparative responsibility” to the different parties that may be held responsible for the ship crash and bridge collapse. The law also says that if the state settles with one responsible party, it can still take legal action against other parties that may be responsible.
The bridge collapse led to the deaths of six workers who were filling potholes on the bridge. It also caused a ripple effect of economic damages by shutting down nearly all shipping into and out of the busy Port of Baltimore. Officials estimate that the port, the businesses within it, its workers and the region suffered a $191 million economic hit each day that the port was closed.
The state sent tens of millions of dollars in emergency aid to businesses and workers, programs that wound down after the port fully reopened earlier this month.
The government also faces an estimated bill of nearly $2 billion to rebuild the Key Bridge, which carried tens of thousands of vehicles over the river daily, from commuters to commercial trucks. President Joe Biden has pledged the federal government will pay the full cost — instead of the usual 90% — but Congress is yet to sign off on a deal for the bridge.
Meanwhile, investigations into the ship strike and bridge collapse are continuing by the National Transportation Safety Board and the FBI.
