In The Matter Of The Petition Of Grace Ocean Private Limited et al

Case Background

On April 1, 2024, Plaintiff Grace Ocean Private Limited brought an Exoneration and Limitation of Liability claim against the USA in the District Court of Maryland (Case number: 1:24cv941). Judge James K. Bredar presided over the case.

Cause

A catastrophic collision occurred on March 26, 2024, when the containership M/V DALI crashed into the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore. Before departure, the vessel suffered serious maintenance and safety issues. Its electrical and mechanical systems showed signs of improper maintenance and configuration that violated international shipping safety regulations. The vessel experienced severe vibration problems, affecting its transformer and electrical systems. Previous crew members had reported constant vibrations that loosened cargo lashings and cracked equipment in the engine room. The disaster unfolded when the DALI lost electrical power approximately four minutes before impact. Circuit breakers for the number 1 step-down transformer tripped, causing a complete blackout in the bridge and engine room. The backup power system, designed to transfer automatically to the number 2 transformer, failed to activate because the crew had disabled this critical safety feature. In darkness, the crew struggled to manually reset the circuit breakers, wasting precious minutes. A second power failure occurred when the improperly installed "flushing" pump, used to fuel the diesel generators, failed to restart after the initial blackout. This pump, intended only for temporary use when switching fuel types, lacked the automatic restart capability required for emergency situations. The emergency generator also failed to activate within the mandated 45-second window, further compromising the vessel's control systems. On September 18, the Justice Department filed a civil lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland, seeking over $100 million in damages from Grace Ocean and Synergy for Baltimore bridge collapse. This claim was part of a legal action that the vessel companies filed shortly after the tragedy, seeking exoneration or limitation of their liability to approximately $43.7 million.

Injuries

The Baltimore bridge collapse claimed the lives of six construction workers who were performing maintenance on the bridge, while two additional workers sustained injuries. The impact destroyed vital sections of the Francis Scott Key Bridge, sending massive structural components plunging into the Patapsc