In response to a court filing attempting to limit the ship owner’s liability for the Key Bridge collapse, lawyers for the City of Baltimore filed a response saying the company should not be released from damages because the ship was “unseaworthy” because of “negligence of the vessel’s crew and shoreside management,” the Washington Post reports.
The Dali struck a support for the Key Bridge in the early morning hours after losing power while underway on March 26th. Six road workers, all migrants, who were fixing potholes on the bridge were killed. Dali’s owner, Grace Ocean Private Ltd., and the ship’s manager, Synergy Marine Pte Ltd., filed a notice with the court using a maritime law that would limit their liability to around $44 million, even though it will cost hundreds of millions to replace the bridge and no civil lawsuits from the dead men’s families have been settled.
The City of Baltimore lawyers noted that besides the replacement cost of the bridge, the city and its citizens are experiencing a loss of commerce and jobs because commercial shipping cannot get through, and the city will have to absorb tax revenue losses.