$2.25B Settlement Reached in Key Bridge Collapse; DOJ Files Criminal Charges

The owner and management companies of the ship that crashed into Baltimore’s Francis Scott Key Bridge, causing its collapse in 2024, will pay the state of Maryland $2.25 billion, according to a settlement agreement. 

The U.S. Department of Justice also announced it filed criminal charges against two of the ship's management companies and a technical superintendent for conspiracy, obstruction of justice and other charges.

The cargo ship Dali was leaving the Port of Baltimore early morning March 26, 2024, when it crashed into a pillar of the I-695/Francis Scott Key Bridge, causing the bridge to collapse. The 1.6-mile steel-arched bridge had a construction crew and multiple vehicles on it, and six workers died.

$2.25 Billion Settlement

This latest settlement covers claims brought by the Maryland attorney general on behalf of the Maryland Transportation Authority, the Maryland Port Administration and the Maryland Department of the Environment against Dali owner Grace Ocean Private Limited and its manager Synergy Marine Pte Ltd.

Key to reaching the settlement was the inability of the Dali’s owner and manager to cap their total liability to $43.7 million — the ship's estimated value — by invoking the Limitation of Liability Act of 1851.

The state filed the lawsuit in 2024 and asked for punitive damages, plus:

• Replacement of the bridge;
• All costs associated with the emergency response, salvage, demolition and benefits paid to affected workers and businesses;
• Lost revenues, including tolls, fees and taxes;
• Indemnification, damages and attorneys' fees;
• Damages for the state's natural resources and all costs related to environmental contamination and penalties;
• Increased wear and tear on the state's infrastructure; and
• Other economic losses caused by the destruction of the bridge.

Criminal Charges Filed

The DOJ also announced May 12 it charged Synergy Marine Pte Ltd. and Synergy Maritime Pte Ltd., along with an Indian national shoreside superintendent, Radhakrishnan Karthik Nair, with the following related to the Key Bridge crash:

• conspiracy
• willfully failing to immediately inform the U.S. Coast Guard of a known hazardous condition
• obstruction of an agency proceeding
• false statements

The obstruction charges reference false statements Synergy and Nair allegedly gave the National Transportation Safety Board during its investigation of the incident. 

The two Synergy companies have additionally been charged with misdemeanor violations of the Clean Water Act, Oil Pollution Act, and Refuse Act for the discharge of pollutants into the Patapsco River, including shipping containers and their contents, oil and the bridge itself.

More Lawsuits 

Maryland State Attorney General Anthony Brown’s office said it also plans to sue the Dali’s manufacturer, Hyundai Heavy Industries. 

In November 2025, the National Transportation Safety Board found Hyundai HI to be at fault concerning the crash. Its report concluded the crash occurred after a loose wire in the ship’s electrical system unexpectedly opened a breaker and triggered an electrical blackout. After briefly regaining power, the 984-foot-long container ship experienced a second blackout and lost control of propulsion and steering.

The ship’s owner and manager have filed their own lawsuit against Hyundai Heavy Industries, alleging the deadly crash was the fault of the shipbuilder’s “negligence or gross negligence in the design, construction, and/or manufacture of a critical switchboard.” 

In a recent statement to WYPR Baltimore radio station responding to the ongoing and upcoming lawsuit, a Hyundai Heavy Industries representative said:

When HHI delivered the ship nearly 10 years before the allision, there was no indication that any wire was loose. Even if a wire were to become loose over the course of a decade, Grace Ocean and Synergy should have detected that in a routine inspection and through normal maintenance.

Previous $102 Million Settlement

The recent settlement isn’t the first lawsuit the ship owner and manager have settled since the crash. 

A month after it was filed in September 2024, the U.S. Department of Justice’s lawsuit against Grace Ocean Private Limited and Synergy Marine Pte Ltd. was settled for $102 million. 

The settlement amount, reached on October 24, went to the U.S. Treasury and to federal agencies directly affected by the collapse or involved in the response, the DOJ said.

Rebuilding the Bridge

In other Key Bridge news, the Maryland Transportation Authority recently announced it will not retain Kiewit Infrastructure Co. for Phase 2 of reconstructing the Key Bridge, following consultation with the U.S. Department of Transportation. 

According to the USDOT, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy had pushed for the contract to be rebid after “costs ballooned and timelines lagged.” 

The MDTA recently updated its financial forecast on the rebuild to a total cost of $4.3 billion to $5.2 billion and expects to open the new bridge to traffic in late 2030. The preliminary estimate was $1.7 billion to $1.9 billion with opening in 2028.