Families of some of the migrant workers killed when a cargo ship plunged into Baltimore’s Francis Scott Key Bridge in March are reportedly planning to announce legal action on Tuesday to hold the ship’s owners legally responsible for the deadly collapse.
CBS reports that the families of three of the six victims plan to ask the Federal Court to stop Grace Ocean Private Limited, the Singapore-based company that owns the Dali, from avoiding legal responsibility over the disaster.
In April, Grace Ocean Private Limited and Synergy Marine Private Limited, the Dali’s manager, filed a petition in federal district court in Maryland seeking immunity or limitation of liability in the fatal accident.
The Dali lost power twice in the early hours of March 26th just half a mile from the bridge, eventually causing the 117,000-ton ship to slam into the bridge’s main support pier, causing part of the 47-year-old structure to collapse into the water within seconds.
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Part of the collapsed Francis Scott Key Bridge hangs from the container ship Dali, Baltimore, Maryland, USA, March 26, 2024. USA (Army Corps of Engineers/Distributed via Reuters)
Eight construction workers were performing maintenance work on the bridge when it collapsed and fell into the water. Two of the eight survived, but six died.
If the federal district court in Maryland allows the lawsuit to proceed, victims’ families could pursue legal action seeking financial compensation for the deaths of their loved ones, Matthew Wessler of the law firm Gupta Wessler, which will be filing the lawsuit, told CBS.
“They’ve all suffered unimaginable tragedies, they’ve lost loved ones. Some of our clients have lost their husbands, their partners. Some have lost their sons,” Wessler told CBS News, “and we believe accountability, or they believe justice here is about holding those responsible accountable.”
Wessler told the media that he plans to file a motion to hold Grace Ocean Private Limited legally liable by the September 24 deadline set following the April petition.
He said Grace Ocean was negligent and the ship should never have left the port because it had lost power multiple times before setting off.
A preliminary report from the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) found that the crew of the Dali accidentally disabled the ship’s equipment during in-port maintenance while it was docked at Sea Girt Marine Terminal in Baltimore on March 25. The crew experienced a second power outage due to insufficient fuel pressure in an online generator.
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The collapsed Francis Scott Key Bridge lies on top of the container ship Dali, Thursday, April 25, 2024, in Baltimore. (AP Photo/Matt Luke)
As the ship was leaving port in the early hours of March 26, the main power breaker that powered most of the ship’s equipment and lighting suddenly tripped, causing the ship to lose power and suffer a blackout.
The pumps then lost power and the main propulsion diesel engines shut down. The ship’s crew restored power and called for tugboats to assist, while the senior pilot ordered the ship’s anchors lowered.
A second power outage then occurred and marine radios were used to warn maritime traffic, but the ship collided with the bridge’s main support, causing it to collapse and workers falling to their deaths.
It is unclear what role an earlier technical failure may have played in the ship’s loss of power before the bridge collision.
Fox News Digital reached out to lawyers representing Gupta Wessler LLP and Grace Ocean Private Limited through its PR firm for comment, but did not immediately receive a response.
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Members of the FBI Evidence Response Team work at the site of the Francis Scott Key Bridge collapse in Baltimore, Maryland, Tuesday, March 26, 2024. (FBI)
The lawsuit will be filed on behalf of the families of Miguel Angel Luna Gonzalez, Jose Maynor Lopez Sandoval and Dorrian Lonial Castillo Cabrera, CBS reported.
Despite rescue divers being quickly dispatched to the scene of the collapse, it took six weeks to recover the bodies of all the missing construction workers, all of whom were Latino immigrants who had moved to the US in search of work.
The Dali remained trapped in the wreckage for nearly two months, with huge steel trusses hanging from its damaged bow. On May 20, the ship was refloated and returned to port, allowing authorities to open a channel 50 feet deep and 400 feet wide, wide enough for most large commercial ships to pass through.
Officials have pledged to rebuild the bridge, but that could cost at least $1.7 billion and take years.
Fox News reporter Bradford Betts and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
