IN THE ongoing aftermath of the electrical system failures that saw the 9962 TEU Maersk-chartered Dali collide with and destroy Baltimore’s Francis Scott Key Bridge in March new lawsuits have been filed, a sistership has been detained and insect by the FBI, and insurers are warning of a significant increase in reinsurance premiums.
The US Justice Department last week filed a civil claim against ship manager Synergy Marine Group and vessel owner Grace Marine Private Limited, both based in Singapore, seeking to recover over US$103 million in costs incurred in response to the disaster.
“This accident happened because of the careless and grossly negligent decisions made by Grace Ocean and Synergy, who recklessly chose to send an unseaworthy vessel to navigate a critical waterway and ignored the risks to American lives and the nation’s infrastructure,” according to Acting Deputy Assistant Attorney General Chetan Patil of the Civil Division.
“The Justice Department is committed to ensuring accountability for those responsible for the destruction of the Francis Scott Key Bridge, which resulted in the tragic deaths of six people and disrupted our country’s transportation and defense infrastructure,” Attorney General Merrick B. Garland said in a statement announcing the civil suit.
Court papers allege: “This tragedy was entirely avoidable. The electrical and mechanical systems on the Dali were improperly maintained and configured in a way that violated safety regulations… none of the four means available to help control the Dali — her propeller, rudder, anchor, or bow thruster – worked when they were needed.”
Separately, lawsuits were filed last Friday [20 September] in the Maryland federal court by the families of the six men who died when the bridge collapsed, seeking unspecified damages from the shipowner and manager. A separate suit was lodged by lawyers representing one of the survivors, whose truck fell into the Patapsco River.
On Sunday the Federal Bureau of Investigation, US Environmental Protection Agency’s Criminal Investigation Division and Coast Guard Investigative Services boarded Dali sistership Maersk Saltoro at anchor in Baltimore, “conducting court-authorised law enforcement activity.” Maersk Saltoro is owned by another Singapore company, Argosy Pte Ltd, but is also managed by Synergy is on the same ECNA-SE Asia/ISC service.
Meanwhile, last Thursday Dali finally departed the port of Virginia for repairs in China.
In its just-released 2024 P&I Club update global insurance broker Marsh notes that historically, such high-profile, one-off losses have not been primary drivers of P&I premiums; a strength of the mutual P&I system is the International Group’s robust reinsurance arrangements. The relationship between retained premium income on the one hand and retained claims on the other is typically a far more significant factor.
“However, with the International Group’s reinsurers said to be holding multi-billion-dollar reserves for the Dali loss, notwithstanding the ongoing limitation proceedings, the cost of the International Group’s excess of loss reinsurance program is likely to be impacted (with the additional cost passed on to the club members), while the financial impact on P&I clubs will likely remain modest. That includes Britannia, the P&I club with surplus assets of around US$550 million, with which Dali was entered; the International Group’s pooling agreement means that Britannia will pay a US$10 million retention and its share of the pool – likely not significantly greater than US$20 million,” Marsh’s global head of P&I, Mark Cracknell wrote.
“Members can expect to see the cost of the International Group’s general excess of loss program increase in response to the Dali claim (which will be applied in the form of a non-negotiable surcharge). There are suggestions that the program will likely rise by 15% to 20% and will be subject to allocation between the five vessel categories.”
