The United States government is seeking to recoup $3.1m from the Grimaldi Group and others after one of the Italian shipowner's conros damaged a jetty in Delaware in 2017.

According to the complaint filed in Delaware federal court Thursday, the 3,370-lane-metre Atlantic Conveyor (built 1985) struck the north jetty in Reedy Point, Delaware, where the Chesapeake and Delaware Canal meets the Delaware River.

The US Army Corps of Engineers owns and operates the jetty and canal, which connects the Delaware River to the Chesapeake Bay.

In the lawsuit, the US named as defendants the Atlantic Container Line and its Swedish and US subsidiaries as defendants along with V.Ships (Liverpool) and the American Conveyor's captain, Colleen Moran, in addition to the Grimaldi Group.

Government lawyers alleged that both the ship and Moran were negligent in causing the collision.

While little details were revealed in the lawsuit, a US Coast Guard incident investigation report said the ship was headed from Newark to Baltimore when the incident occurred with a local pilot onboard.

The ship grounded on the jetty as it turned out of the Delaware River into the Chesapeake and Delaware canal, the agency said in an incident report.

The Atlantic Conveyor experienced minor damage to its bulbous bow and its bow thruster blades, none of which required any immediate repairs.

In its accident report, the USCG blamed the Atlantic Conveyor was to blame for the incident because of the pilot on board the vessel at the time inadvertently made a rudder command to starboard.

In addition, there was an ebb current that added to the complexity of the turn from teh Delaware River tot he canal.

The Grimaldi Group did not immediately return requests for comment.

The Atlantic Conveyor stayed in service until October 2017 when it was broken up, shipping database Equasis shows.

The ship was classed by Lloyd's Register and flew the Swedish flag.