Owners And Operators Of Cargo Ships Pay Compensation Of IDR 1.5 Trillion Due To The Collapse Of The Baltimore Bridge

JAKARTA - The owner and operator of the cargo ship that crashed into the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore, United States in March, which killed six people, has agreed to pay 102 million US dollars (IDR 1,595,642,334,600) to the federal government, the Justice Department (DOJ) said on Thursday.

In September, the department filed a civil lawsuit asking for damages of 103 million US dollars from two Singaporean companies, Grace Ocean Private Limited and Synergy Marine Private Limited.

The lawsuit is intended to get back the money the US Government spent in response to the disaster, cleaning up the wreck of the Dali cargo ship and the wreckage of a bridge from Baltimore Harbor, so the waterway could reopen in June.

Deputy Attorney General Benjamin Mizer said the settlement "ensures that the cost of efforts to clean up the federal government in the Fort McHenry Canal is borne by Grace Ocean and Synergy, not by American taxpayers."

The National Transportation Safety Agency said in May that the cargo ship Dali lost power several times before hitting a bridge on the Patapsco River on early March 26. In April, the FBI opened a criminal investigation into the disaster.

The Justice Department's lawsuit was filed as part of a legal action initiated by Grace Ocean and Synergy to limit their responsibility for the crash to 44 million US dollars, the amount by department officials is said to be "very inadequate."

The ship hit a support pole, causing the bridge to collapse into the river.

The reopening of the bridge requires moving about 50,000 tonnes of debris. More than 1,500 individual respondents, along with 500 specialists from around the world, operated a fleet of ships during the operation, involving 56 federal, state and local agencies.

The state of Maryland, which estimates it will cost $1.7 billion to $1.9 billion to rebuild the bridge and anticipate its settlement in the fall of 2028, separately filing claims against the companies over bridge costs, cleaning efforts, environmental claims and other costs.

Funds re-obtained by Maryland for the reconstruction of the bridge will be used to reduce project costs paid by the US Government, DOJ said.