Maryland Attorney General Anthony G. Brown has announced a final settlement of $2.25 billion between the state of Maryland and Grace Ocean Private Limited and Synergy Marine Pte Ltd., the owner and operator, respectively, of the containership Dali. The settlement resolves the state’s claims against those parties related to the Dali’s March 26, 2024, allision with the Francis Scott Key Bridge near Baltimore.
The settlement also resolves claims brought on behalf of the Maryland Transportation Authority, the Maryland Port Administration and the Maryland Department of the Environment.
According to the attorney general’s office, the settlement with Grace Ocean and Synergy Marine does not resolve the state’s claims against Hyundai Heavy Industries, shipbuilder of the Dali.
“The collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge sent shockwaves through Maryland and caused damages on a scale this state had never seen,” Brown said in announcing the settlement. “This $2.25 billion settlement reflects the full measure of accountability we were able to secure from the vessel interests — and our pursuit of justice is not finished. We will continue to press our claims against the shipbuilder whose fault helped bring this bridge down.”
In the early morning hours of March 26, 2024, as the Dali motored toward the Atlantic Ocean, the ship experienced a pair of blackouts. The ship drifted into one of the Key bridge's piers, triggering its collapse. Six construction workers died in the collapse, and the collapsed bridge closed the waterway for about 11 weeks.
By May 2024, the attorney general’s office finalized its team of five outside law firms. The following September, the state announced its claim against Grace Ocean Private Limited and Synergy Marine, which was filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland. The claim sought damages for the destruction of the bridge, environmental harm, lost toll revenue, and other economic losses.
Grace Ocean and Synergy Marine initially sought to limit total liability to about $43.7 million by invoking the Limitation of Liability Act of 1851. In the end, that amount — $43.7 million — represented only about 2 percent of the final settlement with the state of Maryland.
