The owners of the Dali, the ship that hit the Francis Scott Key Bridge in March 2024, are suing the builders of the vessel for defective design.

In a case filed on July 31, Grace Ocean Private alleges that Hyundai Heavy Industries (HHI) “defectively designed the switchboard in such a manner that wiring connections were not secure, could not be verified as secure, and could lose connection during normal operation, such that the signal wire was not designed to remain securely connected to the terminal block, which design defect caused the switchboard and the vessel to be unreasonably dangerous and in a defective condition when it left HHI’s control.”

The Dali lost power right before hitting the Key Bridge. The National Transportation Safety Board stated in its report that there was an interruption in the control circuit leading to the main breakers and mentioned loosely connected cables.

Grace Ocean is suing for repairs to the ship and for contribution to payouts in the civil case regarding the Key Bridge, which involves Maryland, Baltimore city, the families of those who were killed on the bridge and various businesses impacted by the incident.

Those entities are suing Grace Ocean for loss of life, economic damages, loss of income and environmental impacts.

Maryland’s Attorney General is now asking for interviews and information from Hyundai for its case against Grace Ocean.

The civil case between Maryland, the other entities and Grace Ocean is set for next summer.