$350M Settlement Reached with Owners of Ship That Collapsed Baltimore Key Bridge

Settlement comes before a trial is scheduled to begin on June 1, which would address the ship owner’s liability and whether it can be limited under an outdated 1851 law.

The owners of the ship that struck the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore in 2024 have agreed to pay $350 million to their insurers, reimbursing funds already paid to the State of Maryland for damages caused by the collapse.

The settlement was announced April 2 in the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland between ACE American Insurance Co., Grace Ocean Private Ltd., and Synergy Marine Group. It comes nearly two years after the crash and about two months before a trial is scheduled to begin to determine whether Grace Ocean is legally responsible. 

The agreement simply repays the insurer for what it already paid Maryland, and does not resolve the broader lawsuits, which continue to allege the crash was caused by negligence.

Separately, the company has already agreed to pay the U.S. government $102 million related to the incident.

Key Bridge Collision

The MV Dali, a fully loaded container ship, lost power and drifted off course on March 26, 2024, colliding with one of the Key Bridge’s main supports and causing the bridge to tumble into the Patapsco River. The accident claimed the lives of six construction workers, and the collapsed structure blocked the channel to the Port of Baltimore for weeks, cutting off one of only four ports on the U.S. east coast able to handle ships of its size.

According to a preliminary report released in June 2024, the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board found that the power loss was caused by electrical problems when the Dali was only three ship lengths away from the bridge.

Grace Ocean and Synergy Marine filed a petition to limit their liability for the bridge collapse in April 2024, invoking an 1851 law that could limit the liability to the remaining value of the vessel after a marine accident or incident occurs. The law was put in place when the seas were far more treacherous due to the limits of technology, and the loss of a ship at sea could drive a company into bankruptcy.

However, several Key Bridge Collapse lawsuits, filed by the City of Baltimore, the state of Maryland, victims’ families and some individual business owners, say the accident was due to negligence on the part of the companies and should not be covered by the old maritime law.

Baltimore Bridge Collapse Settlement

The $350 million settlement matches what ACE American Insurance paid to Maryland, which was the maximum amount of the state’s bridge insurance policy. The companies still face additional claims from Maryland, which seeks to recover damages exceeding the amount covered by the insurance policy.

A trial is currently scheduled to begin on June 1 over Grace Ocean’s liability and whether the 1851 law applies. It is expected to take about 16 days. The company’s petition, if successful, would limit the company’s liability to only $43.6 million, which is the value of the ship and its cargo.

In a case management order (PDF) issued on April 2, the same day the settlement was announced, U.S. District Judge James K. Bredar called on the parties to file a joint proposal by April 13 to indicate the order in which evidence will be presented at trial. He also called on the parties to deliver a draft pretrial order to the court by April 27.

A replacement for the lost bridge is expected to cost as much as $5.2 billion, and is expected to open in late 2030.

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