House bill aims to hold cargo ship owners accountable for Key Bridge collapse

First published Thursday, Aug. 15 in the Dundalk Eagle.

A new bill in the U.S. House of Representatives would make the owners of the Dali cargo ship pay up to 10 times more for the damage the ship caused when it crashed into the Francis Scott Key Bridge.

Court filings show that the companies who own and manage the Dali have offered to pay about $43.7 million for the bridge’s collapse, estimating that the ship was worth $90 million. Repairing and salvaging the vessel, ship manager Synergy Marine Private Ltd. and ship owner Grace Ocean Ltd. said, would cost just under half of what the ship was worth.

A law enacted in 1851 allows ship owners to limit the amount they have to pay for damage to what the ship and its cargo was worth, minus expenses, according to a press release announcing the bill. The ship’s owner and manager have asked the United States District Court in Baltimore to limit the amount it has to pay for the ship crashing into the bridge, what it refers to as the “casualty.”

“The Casualty,” the court petition read, “was not due to any fault, neglect, or want of care on the part of Petitioners, the Vessel, or any persons or entities for whose acts Petitioners may be responsible.”

The Justice for Victims of Foreign Vessel Accidents Act, introduced by California Rep. John Garamendi and Georgia Rep. Hank Johnson, would force Synergy Marine and any other ships that aren’t United States-flagged to pay up to 10 times the vessel’s worth, minus repair and salvage costs, in damages according to the press release. Ships carrying the American flag would not be subject to the bill.

“If the foreign owners of the cargo vessel that took down the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore think they can leave American taxpayers holding the bag, I have a message for them: You broke it, you bought it,” Garamendi said in a press release. “Access to America’s ports and our consumers is a privilege, not a right.”

Lawyers representing victims of the bridge collapse expressed support for the bill in the press release.

Maryland officials estimate that rebuilding the Key Bridge will cost between $1.7 and $1.9 million. If the bill is passed and signed into law, the owners would have to pay up to almost $437 million — about a quarter of the cost to rebuild the bridge.