Insurer Pay Out $350M to Dali’s Owner/Operator Before Trial Starts
The insurance company that underwrote the coverage for Maryland on the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore reported to the court that it has settled with the owner and operator of the containership Dali. The first of what could be several settlements comes as the court is telling the parties to be ready to go to trial in just two months.
Two years after the allision that destroyed the bridge, killed six roadworkers, and cost the Baltimore and Maryland economy from lost business, U.S. District Court Judge James Bredar admonished all the parties to be ready for the civil trial scheduled to start on June 1. CBS News reports the judge told all the parties during a status meeting on April 2, “The schedule has to be given tip top priority.”
He said all parties must be ready for trial. Originally, the lawyers for the claimants proposed a December 2025 trial, while the defendants’ lawyers wanted the trial in 2027. The judge had set 2025 for depositions and gathering of evidence and had long ago set the June start date.
ACE American Insurance Company, which had underwritten the coverage for Maryland on the bridge, informed the court during this week’s status hearing that it had reached a settlement for $350 million with Grace Ocean, the owners of the containership, and Synergy Marine Group, which managed the Dali. The amount of the settlement is reported to equal the $350 million paid to Maryland weeks after the incident as the maximum liability under the policy.
It is possible that some of the other parties to the case could also reach settlements in the coming weeks, but the bulk of the case is expected to proceed to trial. Judge Bredar early on established a two-phase process that will first hear the arguments regarding the claims of limited liability made by Grace Ocean and Synergy. The companies invoked the Limitation of Liability Act of 1851 (LOLA), which would allow the shipowner to restrict the total amount of their liability to no more than the post-accident value of the vessel, plus the value of pending freight, or approximately $44 million. Based on the outcome, the second phase would seek to apportion the liabilities. The civil trial is a bench trial, meaning it will be heard by the judge and not go before a jury.
The families of the six individuals have filed claims, as have many local businesses. Baltimore and Maryland have claims, including for the replacement of the bridge. Estimates are that the claims exceed $5 billion. Although Maryland received the $350 million in insurance, under the law, it can still seek claims above the value of the insurance payment.
Grace Ocean, Synergy, and their insurance companies have settled claims made by the U.S. Coast Guard and the federal government for the cost of the cleanup and recovery operations. The companies settled a $102 million claim with the U.S. Justice Department in October 2024. At the time, the companies said the settlement was not indicative of any liability, which they expressly reject for the incident that led to the collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge.
In a separate case, the companies sought to sue Hyundai Heavy Industries, claiming defects in the construction of the ship. The ship was built in 2015, and Hyundai sought arbitration, citing the age of the ship and the years of maintenance after it left the shipyard.
that matters most
Get the latest maritime news delivered to your inbox daily.
The trial is expected to run for several weeks and present from the hundreds of hours of depositions, as well as crewmembers who have been retained in the United States this whole time. The National Transportation Safety Board's conclusion of defects on the ship and its maintenance cannot be directly cited during the trial, but they will be able to draw from the evidence the NTSB collected during its investigation.
The state marked the second anniversary of the bridge collapse by emphasizing the strong rebound in its economy, and specifically the Port of Baltimore. It insists the bridge replacement project is on track, and work has begun removing more of the elements of the Key Bridge. Costs of the replacement have skyrocketed, and it is now not expected to be completed before 2030.
Content Original Link:
" target="_blank">
