Read more about the聽latest on the Key Bridge collapse and recovery in Baltimore.
BALTIMORE (AP) 鈥� A group of Baltimore longshoremen have sued the owner and manager of the ship that caused the , arguing the companies should compensate them for wages lost while the port was closed in the aftermath of the deadly disaster.
The class action lawsuit adds to a alleging the ship鈥檚 Singapore-based owner and manager, Grace Ocean Private Ltd. and Synergy Marine Group, knowingly sent an unseaworthy ship into U.S. waters.
Six construction workers were , which halted most maritime traffic through Baltimore鈥檚 busy port for months as crews worked around the clock to clear thousands of tons of mangled steel and concrete from the main shipping channel. During the initial cleanup, many longshoremen .
鈥淭his was equivalent for longshoremen what the world experienced during COVID, when everything stopped,鈥� said plaintiff Ryan Hale, who鈥檚 worked at the port for over a decade. 鈥淚鈥檒l never forget, I wake up in the morning, getting ready for work, turn on the news 鈥� I had to flip the channels twice to make sure it wasn鈥檛 a horror movie.鈥�
The port fully reopened once the channel was cleared in June, but traffic didn鈥檛 immediately bounce back because some ships had been rerouted as the global supply chain made adjustments in the immediate aftermath of the collapse.
鈥淣early six months later, shipping traffic in the Port of Baltimore has still not returned to pre-disaster levels,鈥� attorneys for the longshoremen wrote in their claim. 鈥淐laimants鈥� incomes were and continue to be entirely dependent on the flow of cargo vessels in and out of the Port of Baltimore.鈥�
The lawsuit was filed Tuesday on behalf of roughly 2,200 members of the International Longshoremen鈥檚 Association union.
Baltimore attorney Billy Murphy, representing the plaintiffs, said they鈥檙e seeking to recover lost wages in addition to punitive damages.
Murphy held a news conference Thursday at which three of the plaintiffs spoke about how the port closure affected them. They said their access to jobs and benefits is based on seniority, so working fewer hours has serious implications because it could mean sliding back down the totem pole.
鈥淓verything we obtain is acquired through hours,鈥� Hale said.
A by the U.S. Department of Justice provided the most detailed account yet of the cascading series of failures on the Dali that left its pilots and crew helpless in the face of looming disaster. That complaint alleges mechanical and electrical systems on the massive ship had been 鈥渏ury-rigged鈥� and improperly maintained, culminating in a power outage as it approached the bridge. The crew鈥檚 efforts to restore power in time were also hindered by other problems on the ship.
Darrell Wilson, a Grace Ocean spokesperson, has said the ship鈥檚 owner and manager 鈥渓ook forward to our day in court to set the record straight.鈥�
FBI agents boarded the Dali in April amid a criminal investigation into the circumstances leading up to the collapse. Agents boarded managed by Synergy while it was docked in Baltimore on Saturday.
The Dali was leaving Baltimore for Sri Lanka when its steering failed because of the power blackouts. Six men on a road crew, who were filling potholes during an overnight shift, fell to their deaths as the bridge crumbled beneath them.
While the ship experienced a series of electrical issues before and after it departed Baltimore, the blackout that occurred as it approached the bridge likely resulted from a loose electrical connection, which had been damaged by the vibrations on the Dali, according to recent court filings.
Engineers on the ship manually restored power by reconnecting the tripped breakers, but it again switched off because of a problem with the fuel pumps. Attorneys allege the fuel supply to the ship鈥檚 generators was improperly reconfigured as a cost-cutting measure after Grace Ocean purchased it in 2017.
Grace Ocean and Synergy filed a court petition days after the collapse seeking to limit their legal liability in what could become the most expensive marine casualty case in history. Since then, a number of entities have filed opposing claims, including Baltimore鈥檚 mayor and city council, families of the victims, local businesses and insurance companies. They鈥檝e all been consolidated into one sprawling liability case and the deadline for most claims to be filed was Tuesday.
Copyright © 2024 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, written or redistributed.
