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As trial nears for Baltimore’s Key Bridge collapse, insurance company settles with ship owner

A U.S. Army Corps of Engineers boat approaches the Dali cargo ship, which toppled the Francis Scott Key bridge in March, on April 2024. (Ulysses Muñoz/The Baltimore Banner)
Ulysses Muñoz
/
The Baltimore Banner
A U.S. Army Corps of Engineers boat approaches the Dali cargo ship, which toppled the Francis Scott Key bridge in March, on April 2024.

ACE American Insurance Company, the business that paid out $350 million to Maryland after the Francis Scott Key Bridge collapse, just settled its case with the owner of the ship that hit the bridge.

The two parties announced their agreement at a hearing of the U.S. District Court of Maryland Thursday as the parties involved in the case met to schedule the trial for the case.

There are more than 50 parties suing Grace Ocean Private, the owner of the ship that hit the bridge, and Synergy Marine Group, the ship’s manager.

The civil trial will begin in June and will be broken into two segments: one to determine if there is a cap on liability and the second to determine damages.

Other claimants will likely settle in the coming months to avoid trial.

The state of Maryland and the city of Baltimore are both suing the companies for damages and loss of revenue.

Last November, the National Transportation Safety Board finished its investigation of the incident and found that a loose wire was the culprit for the ship losing power.

“This tragedy should have never occurred. Lives should have never been lost, as with all accidents that we investigate, this was preventable,” said Jennifer Homendy, the chairwoman of the NTSB who oversaw the investigation.

Investigators concluded the reason the wire came loose is that a label was affixed to the wire too close to where it was plugged into the breaker.

The label prevented the wire from fully inserting into the breaker because the casing pushed against the label.

The cost to rebuild the Key Bridge is estimated at about $5 billion and will finish in 2030.

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