Key Bridge Collapse Lawsuit Says Local Business Has Ground to a Halt

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The companies that own and operate the ship that crashed into Baltimore’s Key Bridge, causing its collapse and the death of at least six people, face a proposed class action lawsuit that alleges the “wholly preventable” catastrophe has crippled an essential economic lifeline for countless businesses in the region.

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The 17-page Key Bridge collapse lawsuit against Grace Ocean Private Limited and Synergy Marine PTE LTD, the entities that respectively own and manage the container ship Dali, which crashed into the Port of Baltimore bridge on March 26, 2024, alleges the vessel was unfit for voyage yet allowed to leave port anyway, “a decision marred by flagrant disregard for seaworthiness.”

The plaintiffs, two consumers who own American Publishing, LLC, say the catastrophe stemmed from “carelessness, negligence, gross negligence, and recklessness” on the parts of Grace Ocean Private Limited and Synergy Marine and has caused commercial activities in and around Baltimore to “virtually come to a standstill.”

“Essentially, the negligence of the Petitioners not only led to the physical destruction of the Key Bridge but also precipitated a broader economic shutdown in Baltimore, severely affecting local business owners like [American Publishing],” the complaint summarizes, noting that it could take years for the area to fully recover from the collapse.

On March 26, the container ship Dali embarked from the Port of Baltimore, among the top 20 ports nationwide as far as total tonnage, on a course for the Chesapeake Bay, with the vessel’s intended route to pass beneath the 1.6-mile Francis Scott Key Bridge. Per the lawsuit, this route is “a well-traveled conduit for countless gargantuan container ships,” which navigate the passage roughly 3,600 times each year “without a single incident” in more than 40 years.

As the case tells it, the economic import of the Port of Baltimore to the region cannot be understated, estimated at upward of $70 billion in 2023 alone.

Twelve minutes after its departure on March 26, the Dali “commenced a sweeping turn” toward the Key Bridge, with the ship’s onboard data recorder, later obtained by the National Transportation Safety Board, capturing several urgent alarms, “signaling the beginning of a dire predicament,” the lawsuit relays. The Dali, “bereft of power and adrift,” the suit shares, surged uncontrollably toward the Key Bridge at roughly seven knots before violently colliding with the structure at around 1:28 a.m. According to the lawsuit, alarms signaling “erratic power supply” were sounding before the Dali departed, “clearly signifying its unfit state for voyage.” 

“By approximately 1:28 AM local time, the Dali had catastrophically allided with the Key Bridge, precipitating its immediate downfall, claiming lives, ravaging local property, and crippling the region’s economic lifeline—a catastrophe whose repercussions will resonate for generations.”

The plaintiffs claim the “negligence of the Petitioners is starkly evident,” as they allegedly employed an inattentive, deficiently trained crew, mismanaged the vessel, neglected to implement certainly safety policies and procedures, neglected maintenance, and failed to promptly address “known or foreseeable deficiencies,” among a litany of other alleged shortcomings.

American Publishing contends that although its business was “flourishing” prior to the Key Bridge collapse, the structure’s destruction has brought “a dramatic halt in business activities” for the region.

“Claimants were positioned to continue their business operations undisturbed, yet the destruction of the Key Bridge directly undermined this stability, causing ongoing significant revenue losses. Claimants’ income declined 84% when comparing April 2023 to April 2024. There was no other reason for this dramatic loss of income other than the destruction of the Key Bridge.”

The lawsuit looks to cover all businesses, individuals and other entities who have sustained a loss as a result of Grace Ocean Private Limited and Synergy Marine PTE LTD’s destruction of the Key Bridge.

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