Wrongful death claims filed in Dali legal row over workers who fell to death

The families of six construction workers who fell to their death when a container ship slammed into a Baltimore bridge have filed wrongful death claims against the owner and operator of the ship.

The claims are the the latest among many as a deadline approaches US federal court in Baltimore in litigation over the March casualty involving the 9,962-teu Dali (built 2015). The case began when the ship’s manager, Synergy Marine, and owner Grace Ocean filed a petition to limit their liability to about $44m.

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The families and estates of Jose Mynor Lopez, Maynor Suazo Sandoval, Dorlian Ronial Castillo Cabrera, Miguel Angel Luna, Alejandro Hernandez Fuentes and Carlos Daniel Hernandez Estrella filed a separate claim for each of the men.

The six construction workers were on the Francis Scott Key Bridge when it collapsed.

All six claims seek punitive and survival damages, in addition to the wrongful death claim.

The body of Lopez, a Baltimore resident, was found on 7 May, making it the last to be discovered after the 26 March casualty. The native of Guatemala was 37.

“After the impact, the ground fell from underneath Jose Mynor Lopez and he fell with the bridge into the Patapsco River, suffering extreme fright, pain, suffering, and, ultimately, death,” his family’s lawyers said.

They said the master of the ship committed “numerous reckless and negligent acts” prior to the casualty.

“A substantial portion of the Dali’s improper acts involved reckless and negligent operation of the Dali’s electrical generating and distribution system,” the lawyers wrote in the claim.

Like a recent $103m claim by the US government, the Lopez family’s claim alleges that a “flushing” pump was installed on the ship even though it was not designed for permanent use, and its failure meant insufficient fuel oil reached the ship’s generator

The lawyers for the construction workers’ families also complained of longstanding issues with vibration on the Dali.

Darrell Wilson, a spokesman for Singapore-based manager Synergy Marine and compatriot owner Grace Ocean, previously said the filings were anticipated given a 24 September deadline for all claims.

He declined to comment further.

“The owner and manager will have no further comment on the merits of any claim at this time, but we do look forward to our day in court to set the record straight,” he said when the US filed its claim.