The owner and operator of the cargo ship which crashed into a Baltimore bridge has agreed to pay $102m (£78.6m) to the federal government, the US Justice Department has said.
The US Justice Department said that the agreement reached with the owner Grace Ocean Private Ltd. and operator Synergy Marine Private Ltd. will avoid lengthy litigation and will fully compensate the government for the cost of remediation. The funds will go to the US budget and several federal agencies that were involved in the clean-up operation.
The vessel Dali left the Port of Baltimore bound for Sri Lanka, but lost power during navigation and crashed into the Francis Scott Key Bridge on March 26. After colliding with the vessel, the container ship caught fire but remained afloat and several centre spans of the bridge fell into the water. At least four vehicles and seven construction workers were on the bridge at the time of the accident. Around 50,000 tonnes of debris was removed as a result of the accident and temporary channels have helped restore port operations.
Grace Ocean Private Limited had previously already paid about $97 million to cover the cost of preventing an oil spill due to the collision.
Maryland authorities have also filed a lawsuit against the owners of the vessel, seeking compensation of about $1.9 billion to rebuild the Francis Scott Key Bridge. The case continues to attract attention as affected families and local businesses have also filed lawsuits against the owners of the Dali.
