Historic Settlement Finalized for Dali Allision with Francis Scott Key Bridge

Maryland Attorney General Anthony G. Brown has announced that the State of Maryland has reached a final settlement of $2.25 billion with Grace Ocean Private Limited and Synergy Marine Pte Ltd., the owner and operator of the M/V Dali, resolving the State’s claims against those parties arising from the cargo ship’s March 26, 2024 allision with the Francis Scott Key Bridge.  

On the morning of March 26, 2024, the M/V Dali crashed into a supporting column of the Francis Scott Key Bridge, causing its catastrophic collapse. Six construction workers lost their lives: Alejandro Hernandez Fuentes, Dorlian Ronial Castillo Cabrera, Jose Mynor Lopez, Carlos Hernández, Miguel Angel Luna Gonzalez, and Maynor Yasir Suazo Sandoval. Two others were injured.  

The disaster brought shipping at the Port of Baltimore to a complete halt, disrupted the livelihoods of thousands of workers, rerouted traffic through communities already bearing disproportionate burdens, and triggered economic ripple effects that continue to be felt across the State.  

The State sought damages on behalf of its agencies for the destruction of the bridge, harm to the Patapsco River and surrounding environment, lost revenues, and the broad economic losses suffered by Maryland and its residents.

Liskow finalized the settlement for its client, the State of Maryland, marking the largest single maritime property damage settlement in U.S. history. Liskow has played a lead role in many of the largest offshore incidents in the world, including the Golden Ray, Seacor Power, Deepwater Horizon, Ocean Ranger, Piper Alpha, Noble Globetrotter II, and Petronious events as well as less well-known but no less significant barge sinkings on the Mississippi River, chartered drillships impacted by weather systems in the Gulf, and vessel allisions on inland waterways and bays. The firm handles maritime matters nationwide.

From the outset, Grace Ocean and Synergy Marine sought to cap their total liability at approximately $43.7 million, the estimated post-disaster value of the Dali, by invoking the Limitation of Liability Act of 1851, a maritime law that ties a shipowner’s liability to the value of the vessel after a disaster. A $43.7 million cap would have represented a small fraction of the damages caused by the loss of the bridge.  

In November 2025, the NTSB released its final report on the collapse, tracing the cause of the Dali’s blackout to a single loose signal wire in the ship’s electrical control center and concluding that the disaster was entirely preventable. The NTSB also identified Hyundai Heavy Industries, the builder of the M/V Dali, as bearing fault for the ship’s loss of power.

In April 2026, with a June 1 trial approaching, the State announced it had reached a settlement in principle with Grace Ocean and Synergy Marine.

Earlier this month, the U.S. Justice Department announced that a grand jury had indicted two foreign operators and a shoreside superintendent over the incident. The Justice Department said the collision caused at least $5 billion in damage and significant environmental damage. The National Transportation Safety Board found a single loose wire in the electrical system caused a breaker to unexpectedly open, launching a sequence of events that led to two vessel blackouts and a loss of propulsion and steering.

Synergy Marine Pte Ltd, based in Singapore, and Synergy Maritime Pte Ltd, based in Chennai, India, along with Radhakrishnan Karthik Nair, 47, an Indian national who worked for both companies as the technical superintendent for the Dali, are charged with conspiracy, willfully failing to immediately inform the U.S. Coast Guard of a known hazardous condition, obstruction of an agency proceeding, and false statements.