Coal exporter Consol Energy has filed a claim for more than $100m it suffered in losses over the collapse of Baltimore’s Francis Scott Key Bridge.
The US company’s claim against shipowner Grace Ocean and manager Synergy Marine is the latest in a complex legal battle concerning the 9,962-teu container ship Dali (built 2015), which struck the bridge in March.
Consol Energy said in a court filing that the destruction of the bridge, which killed six people, cut off its Baltimore coal export terminal from international markets during the Patapsco River’s eight-week closure.
The company’s lawyer, Mark Stiller of Niles, Barton & Wilmer, wrote that 65% to 70% of its coal is exported overseas, and the vast majority of those volumes go through the Consol Marine Terminal in Baltimore.
“As a result of the blockage arising from the Key Bridge allision, claimant was required to effectively shut down operations at its Consol Marine Terminal, limiting the company’s ability to ship coal for overseas export,” Stiller wrote in a filing with the US District Court for the District of Maryland.
The $100m included lost revenue due to being unable to export from Consol Marine, lost terminal fees and storage, and reduced mining operations in its Pennsylvania mining complex.
The coal company accused Grace Ocean and Synergy, both Singapore companies, of negligence.
“The Key Bridge allision was foreseeable, avoidable and a direct and proximate result of petitioners’ carelessness, negligence, gross negligence and recklessness, coupled with the unseaworthiness of the Dali,” Stiller wrote.
Consol’s lawyer accused the shipowner and manager of “intentional and reckless acts” that created a public nuisance that will continue to cause harm “well into the future” for the coal company and others.
Stiller has asked chief judge James Bredar for punitive damages and argued Grace Ocean and Synergy should not be allowed to limit liability in the case.
Darrell Wilson, a spokesman for the shipowner and manager, said in a statement that many “inaccurate and inflammatory” allegations had been made against Grace Ocean and Synergy.
He rejected claims the Dali suffered a loss of power the day before the bridge incident and therefore they knew the ship was unseaworthy and should not have set sail.
“That statement is false and misleading,” he said.
He pointed to testimony by National Transportation Safety Board chairwoman Jennifer Homendy that the earlier problems were “mechanically distinct” from what happened on 26 March, when the ship hit the bridge.
“Many of the allegations made by the various claimants are simply false or misleading; however, we do not intend to litigate this case in the press,” he said.
“We are confident that when the law is applied to the facts of this case, Synergy Marine and Grace Ocean will be exonerated of all liability or, at the very least, their liability limited.”
The Singapore-flag Dali was classed by Japan’s ClassNK and insured by Britannia P&I Club.
Grace Ocean and Synergy are represented in the litigation by law firms Duane Morris and Blank Rome.
