Francis Scott Key Bridge Collapse

[AA3JY]

Next..get the bridge back up��


https://www.yahoo.com/news/baltimore...230741005.html

[JPA Cate]

They say they hope within four long years...

Good on 'em, though. They hoped for the end of May, and early June is pretty good, especially considering the magnitude of the task.

Ann

[GordMay]

Loose electrical cable found on ship that caused Baltimore bridge collapse
Investigators, working to pinpoint the cause of Baltimore’s Francis Scott Key Bridge collapse, discovered a loose cable, that could have caused electrical issues [power failure], on the “Dali”.
More ➥ https://www.npr.org/2024/09/13/g-s1-...ridge-collapse

[GordMay]

Federal agents have boarded the “Maersk Saltoro”, a vessel managed by the same company, “Synergy Marine Group”, as the “Dali” cargo ship, that caused the deadly “Francis Scott Key Bridge”, in Baltimore, to collapse, in March.
Like the ‘Dali’, the Singapore-flagged ‘Saltoro’ was built, by Hyundai, in 2015.

“The Federal Bureau of Investigation, US Environmental Protection Agency’s Criminal Investigation Division, and Coast Guard Investigative Services, are present aboard the Maersk Saltoro, conducting court authorized law enforcement activity,” statements from the FBI and U.S. Attorney’s Office said.
Authorities did not offer further specifics.

In a lawsuit*, filed Wednesday [09/18/24], the US Justice Department has alleged that Dali owner Grace Ocean Private Ltd. and manager Synergy Marine Group, both of Singapore, recklessly cut corners and ignored known electrical problems on the vessel that had a power outage moments before it crashed into a support column on the Francis Scott Key Bridge in March.
The Justice Department is seeking to recover more than $100 million the government spent to clear the underwater debris and reopen the city’s port.

* UNITED STATES’ CLAIM AND ANSWER TO PETITIONERS GRACE OCEAN PRIVATE LIMITED AND SYNERGY MARINE PTE LTD’S PETITION FOR EXONERATION FROM OR LIMITATION OF LIABILITY
➥ https://www.justice.gov/opa/media/1369026/dl

[CaptTom]

I saw that. Would be very interesting to know what got the FBI involved. Normally it's the CG who does boardings and inspections. There must be something going on well beyond violations of oily discharge piping or whatever.

Seems to me they should have arrested the Dali until all claims were settled, instead of letting her sail. Could be there wasn't enough value in it to make a difference anyway.

[GordMay]

The FBI may be investigating whether there was any criminal wrongdoing, in the crash; for instance, whether the crew left port, with the foreknowledge that something could be wrong with the ship.

[JPA Cate]

It is the Department of Justice who filed the lawsuit Wednesday. The FBI is under their jurisdiction. Or at least, that is what Jim told me.

Ann

[TrentePieds]

I woulda thot that even in the US, the distinction is drawn, organizationally, twixt them wots responsible for launching an action in tort (for "damages", i.e. monetary compensation for repair costs, loss of revenue, etc. etc. resulting from the "allision"), and them wots responsible for "charging" some hapless person with some criminal act leading to the "allision". Such a "charge" might or might not lead to a civil trial depending on what side of the bed the Prosecutor got out on that morning, and on what career considerations are at stake for him or her.

So surely there are discrete, but mutually influential, activities going on here, the FBI being involved in only one of them.

Mind you, a WAG sez that the City of Baltimore, or whatever corporate entity actually "owns" the bridge is "self-insured", so it'll have to have been the owning entity that initiated the suit. In this 'ere colony such a bridge might well be owned by a "crown corporation".

Obviously, in the Dali case, there is enough meat on the carcass to feed the legal beagles for years and years of civil litigation. As for the criminal side of these sorts of things, traditionally the blame is pinned on someone who died in the crash. There'll be a problem here, though, since neither the skipper nor the harbour pilot died.

TrentePieds

[requiem]

From a skim of the response, my guess is that some of the practices cited (such as use of the flushing pump) were not limited to the Dali and this was sufficient to obtain a search warrant to verify. This would bolster the argument that this was a long-standing company practice, and likely also be used to support criminal charges against the owner and manager.

On the civil side, you have here the response by the United States Government to the petition to limit liability filed by the owner and managers of the Dali. It includes some claims of damages, generally focused on damages to federal property (e.g. NOAA's meteorological station and air gap too) and the costs to contain environmental damage, remove debris, and re-open the channel.

The City of Baltimore had already filed its own response to the petition earlier in the year, but at that time clearly lacked sufficient detail to state much beyond "it will be expensive, and we think you're to blame". I expect families of the transit workers will (if they haven't already) file their own claims as might others who were impacted.

[GordMay]

Originally Posted by JPA Cate

It is the Department of Justice who filed the lawsuit Wednesday. The FBI is under their jurisdiction. Or at least, that is what Jim told me.
Ann

Indeed.
Any CRIMINAL prosecution, potentially filed, subsequent to the [current?] FBI investigation, would be separate from, and in addition to, the CIVIL action, already filed on 09/18/24.

Originally Posted by Case 1:24-cv-00941-JKB

“The United States of America respectfully files this claim and answer to the complaint of Petitioners* Grace Ocean Private Limited (“Grace Ocean”), as owner of the Motor Vessel (“M/V”) DALI, and Synergy Marine Pte Ltd (“Synergy”), as the technical manager of the M/V DALI ...”

➥ https://www.justice.gov/opa/media/1369026/dl

The civil action was submitted, “FOR CLAIMANT United States of America”, by the signatories, listed on page 51, all employees of the CIVIL DIVISION of the U.S. Department of Justice.

* FOR EXONERATION FROM OR LIMITATION OF LIABILITY

[AA3JY]

Ship owner to pay 102 million for clean-up..

https://www.yahoo.com/news/owner-ope...212239848.html

[GordMay]

Originally Posted by AA3JY

Ship owner to pay 102 million for clean-up..

https://www.yahoo.com/news/owner-ope...212239848.html

The Justice Department civil suit was just one, of at least a dozen, legal actions, filed against the Dali’s owners, by governments, businesses, and private individuals. [1]
The settlement does not include money [$1.7bn to $1.9bn], for rebuilding the Francis Scott Key Bridge.
This settlement is in addition to $97,294, recently paid, by Grace Ocean, to the Coast Guard National Pollution Fund Center, for costs incurred to abate the threat of oil pollution, arising from the incident.
The incident is also under investigation by the National Transportation Safety Board, and there is a separate, ongoing, criminal investigation.

[1] Other Lawsuits, still pending:
American Publishing LLC was the first business to file a lawsuit related to the collapse of the bridge. The company alleges in its claim that it suffered an 84% drop in revenue less than a month after the incident.

Underwood Energy, a Baltimore-based company that transports propane and other hazardous materials used by residential and commercial customers. The company used to transport its products over the Key Bridge. Those materials are prohibited in the Fort McHenry and Harbor Tunnels, which means the company must now transport its products around Interstate 695. The company is seeking unspecified damages and attorneys fees.

Hunt Valley-based Brawner Builders, the contractor hired to do maintenance work on the bridge the night of the collapse, claims damages from the injury and deaths of employees as well as the loss of equipment on the bridge. The lawsuit seeks unspecified damages.

The families and estates of the six workers who died in the collapse — Dorlian Ronial Castillo Cabrera, Carlos Daniel Hernandez Estrella, Alejandro Hernandez Fuentes, Miguel Angel Luna Gonzalez, José Mynor López, and Maynor Yasir Suazo-Sandoval — are seeking unspecified damages. All six workers were immigrants from Mexico, El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras.

Insurance companies are also seeking damages. In one lawsuit, companies including New York Marine, General Insurance and underwriters at Lloyd’s of London, Axis Syndicate 1686 — all of whom insured cargo on the Dali — are seeking to recover the costs of claims paid out plus interest and other unspecified damages. In a second lawsuit involving insurance companies,

Liberty Mutual is seeking similar damages for cargo it insured.
Shipping company Star Bulk, owner of the cargo ship Star Triumph, is seeking more than $756,000 in fees, costs, expenses and interest and lost profits after the cargo ship was prevented from entering the Port of Baltimore after the collapsed bridge closed the shipping channel.

[senormechanico]

Gord,


After reading your last post, images of a snake eating itself starting with its tail come to mind.