Responders with the Unified Command conduct an overflight assessment of the Francis Scott Key Bridge collapse in Baltimore, Maryland, March 29, 2024. Unified Command Photo
Record $2.25 Billion Settlement Reached in Baltimore Key Bridge Collapse Case
The State of Maryland has finalized a $2.25 billion settlement with the owner and operator of the containership
, marking the largest legal recovery in maritime history and a major milestone in the aftermath of the catastrophic
collapse of Baltimore’s Francis Scott Key Bridge
The agreement resolves claims brought by Maryland against Singapore-based Grace Ocean Private Limited and Synergy Marine Pte. Ltd., the owner and operator of the Singapore-flagged M/V
, which struck the bridge on March 26, 2024, causing its collapse and killing six construction workers.
The settlement was announced Tuesday by law firm Kelley Drye, which served as assistant counsel for the State of Maryland alongside the Maryland Attorney General’s Office and several outside law firms.
The recovery covers claims tied to the destruction of the bridge, environmental damage, lost toll revenues, disruption to the Port of Baltimore, and broader economic losses suffered across the state.
“This settlement is an important step toward making Maryland whole,” Maryland Attorney General Anthony G. Brown said previously when the agreement in principle was announced in April.
The final figure dramatically exceeds the roughly $43.7 million liability cap sought by Grace Ocean and Synergy under the Limitation of Liability Act of 1851, a maritime law allowing shipowners to limit liability to the post-casualty value of the vessel.
The settlement was reached only weeks before trial proceedings were set to begin over whether the vessel owner and operator could invoke those protections.
The agreement resolves Maryland’s claims against the ship owner and operator, but the State has reserved claims against additional potentially responsible parties, including issues tied to the vessel’s design and modifications.
The legal and technical battle surrounding the casualty intensified further this week after federal prosecutors
unsealed criminal charges
against Synergy Marine, related management entities, and technical superintendent Radhakrishnan Karthik Nair.
Prosecutors allege the companies knowingly operated the
with unsafe modifications that undermined critical electrical redundancies aboard the vessel and contributed to the blackout sequence that left the ship without propulsion or steering moments before impact.
According to the indictment, investigators allege operators relied on a flushing pump not designed to automatically restart after a blackout, contributing to a second power loss following the initial electrical failure.
Shipbuilder HD Hyundai Heavy Industries has separately alleged the vessel’s operators
bypassed built-in safety redundancies
after delivery by replacing automatic fuel supply pumps with the non-redundant flushing pump configuration.
The National Transportation Safety Board previously
identified a loose signal wire
in a high-voltage switchboard as the initiating cause of the first blackout aboard the nearly 1,000-foot containership.
The collapse shut down the Port of Baltimore for weeks, disrupted regional supply chains, and forced more than 34,000 vehicles per day onto detour routes around the harbor.
Total economic damages tied to the disaster have been estimated at more than $5 billion, while replacement costs for the Francis Scott Key Bridge are projected between $4.3 billion and $5.2 billion with completion expected around 2030.
Kelley Drye Partner William J. Jackson, who served as Assistant Counsel for Maryland, called the settlement “historic” and praised the legal teams involved in securing the recovery for the state and its agencies.