Relatives of victims and a survivor of a Maryland bridge collapse that killed six people filed wrongful death and punitive damages claims Friday against the owner and operator of the massive cargo ship that crashed into the bridge earlier this year.
The 100,000-ton ship Dali struck the Francis Scott Key Bridge in the early hours of March 26 as a crew was repairing potholes in the road. Six construction workers were killed when the bridge collapsed into the Patapsco River. Another worker fell into the dark water below and was seriously injured but survived, while an inspector working as a subcontractor for the Maryland Transportation Authority escaped the collapse unharmed. The nearly two dozen crew members on the ship survived, along with two pilots who helped navigate the ship through the harbor.
The collapse also shut down the vital port of Baltimore for months.
The families are bringing the claims to hold the Dali’s owner and operator “accountable and ensure that a preventable tragedy like the Key Bridge disaster never happens again,” their attorneys wrote in court documents. The claims were filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland, Northern Division.
The lawyers represent the families of Dorlian Ronial Castillo Cabrera, Carlos Daniel Hernandez Estrella, Alejandro Hernandez Fuentes, Jose Mynor Lopez, Miguel Angel Luna, Mayor Yasir Suazo Sandoval and survivor Julio Cervantes Suarez.
Days after the bridge collapse, the ship’s Singapore-based owner and operator filed a petition in a Maryland court seeking a limitation of their financial liability to $43.67 million, the value of the ship and its cargo, under a maritime law provision that predated the Civil War.
Attorneys for the victims and their families said in a statement to NBC News on Friday that it was “outrageous” that six days after the collapse, Dali’s owner and manager “filed a callous motion to limit the damage and prevent the innocent victims and their families from seeking justice.”
“We will not allow multibillion-dollar corporations to put profits before safety,” the attorneys said. “These families deserve justice and we will leave no stone unturned in our efforts to help these family members as they strive to ensure that no other family loses loved ones in such a needless and tragic way.”
Darrell Wilson, spokesman for the cargo ship’s owner, Grace Ocean Private Ltd., and its operator, Synergy Marine Pte Ltd., said the filing was expected on Friday.
“The owner and manager do not wish to comment further on the merits of any claim at this time, but we look forward to our day in court to set the record straight,” Wilson said.
The city of Baltimore said in a legal complaint filed in late April against the owner and operator of the freighter that “negligence caused them to destroy the Key Bridge and single-handedly close the Port of Baltimore, a source of jobs, municipal revenue and much pride for the city of Baltimore and its residents.”
“None of this should have happened. Reports indicate that even before leaving port, alarms were sounding indicating inconsistent power on the Dali. The Dali left port anyway, despite its clearly unseaworthy condition,” the city said in the filing.
In response to the ship owner and operator’s claim for limited liability, the City stated that the incident “was caused by the unnavigability of the Dali and the negligence of the ship’s crew and shore management” and that the requests for limitation of liability should therefore be denied.
The Justice Department filed a lawsuit against the companies on Wednesday, seeking more than $100 million.
“The Department of Justice is committed to ensuring accountability for those responsible for the destruction of the Francis Scott Key Bridge, which resulted in the tragic deaths of six people and disrupted our nation’s transportation and defense infrastructure,” Attorney General Merrick Garland said in a statement. “With this civil claim, the Department of Justice is working to ensure that the costs of clearing the channel and reopening the Port of Baltimore are borne by the companies that caused the crash, not the American taxpayer.”
The $100 million claim would cover only the costs of responding to the collapse and cleaning up the wreckage. Officials have said they expect the state bridge to take several years to repair and cost $1.7 billion to $1.9 billion.
According to the ministry, the companies prioritized profits and were aware of problems with the ship that made it dangerous and unseaworthy.
Lawyers for the victims and their families agreed with the argument, stating in their legal claims filed Friday that the ship “had a well-documented history of serious and dangerous vibration problems, which directly affected the electrical system and rendered the ship completely unfit for maritime use.”
The lawyers said the problems were known to the ship’s owner and manager, “but they left anyway.”
The legal claims allege that the companies’ “reckless decision to abandon their moorings despite these dangerous deficiencies was motivated by profit.”
The attorneys said they are seeking a jury trial and unspecified damages that “far exceed the value of the vessel.”
Cervantes Suarez, speaking exclusively to NBC News in July, said the Dali cargo ship “destroyed six families.”
He said he watched his colleagues disappear into the unforgiving water before he himself fell, the only one to survive the fall into the water.
“I looked at the bridge and he wasn’t there anymore,” Suarez said.
He said that he called all his companions by name, but no one answered.
“I relive it all the time, the minutes before the fall and when I fall,“ said Suarez.
This article was originally published on NBCNews.com
