https://www.msn.com/en-us/news...collapse/ar-BB1lEvZ1

Officials previously said the Dali’s crew reported to the Coast Guard that they were going to be conducting routine engine maintenance while in Baltimore.
The vessel experienced apparent electrical issues before it left the Port of Baltimore, the Associated Press reported Monday, citing an anonymous source with knowledge of the situation. That person said alarms went off on the ship’s refrigerated containers while it was still docked, likely indicating an inconsistent power supply.

That the FBI said it was onboard conducting “court-authorized law enforcement activity” suggests agents were serving a federal search warrant, Rod Rosenstein, former U.S. Deputy Attorney General and U.S. Attorney for Maryland, told The Baltimore Sun. Federal judges sign off on such warrants only after agents present probable cause that there was crime, he said.

“The fact that there is a search warrant suggests there is suspicion on the government’s part, or maybe some evidence, that a crime has occurred,” he said.

Rosenstein said the goal of a federal investigation like this would be to determine what caused the bridge-strike and whether there is any “criminal liability,” be it on the part of the crew, the companies that own and manage the ship, or others, such as a fuel supplier.

That distinguishes an FBI-led probe from an NTSB investigation, which also seeks to find out what went wrong but with the goal of preventing such a tragedy from occurring again — not to hold someone or some entity accountable. The NTSB identifies the probable cause for an accident and provides non-binding safety recommendations for officials and companies.

“We do not conduct criminal investigations,” NTSB spokesperson Jennifer Gabris said in an email.

Rod Rosenstein, the same guy that reauthorized the FISA warrants against Carter Page, several times, after everyone knew the Steele Dossier was a smoking pile of "fake news".

Maryland officials release timeline, cost estimate for rebuilding bridge
Maryland plans to rebuild the Francis Scott Key Bridge in just over four years at an estimated cost between $1.7 billion and $1.9 billion, a state transportation official said Thursday.

By The Associated Press

Updated May. 02, 2024 08:50 PM

Md. Transportation Secretary Paul Wiedefeld on the cost, timeline of rebuilding Baltimore's Key Bridge

ANNAPOLIS, Md. (AP) — Maryland plans to rebuild the Francis Scott Key Bridge in just over four years at an estimated cost between $1.7 billion and $1.9 billion, a state transportation official said Thursday.

As salvage efforts continue, authorities also announced late Wednesday they had recovered the body of a fifth person who died in the March 26 collapse.

The state plans to build a new span by fall of 2028, said David Broughton, a spokesman for the Maryland Department of Transportation. He said the cost estimate is preliminary, and detailed engineering specifics have not been confirmed.

Late Wednesday, authorities announced they recovered the body of a fifth person who was missing after the collapse of the bridge more than a month ago, shutting down the port of Baltimore, one of the busiest ports in the country.

Six members of a roadwork crew plunged to their deaths on March 26 when a container ship lost power and crashed into one of the bridge’s supporting columns. The Key Bridge Response Unified Command announced that the victim found Wednesday was identified as Miguel Angel Luna Gonzalez, 49, of Glen Burnie, Maryland. All of the victims were Latino immigrants who came to the United States from Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras.

“We continue to pray for Miguel Angel Luna Gonzalez, his family and all those who love him, acknowledging the anguish they have experienced since the Key Bridge collapsed,” Gov. Wes Moore said in a statement Thursday. “We pray for comfort, we pray for healing, and we pray for peace in knowing that their loved one has finally come home.”

Salvage teams found one of the missing construction vehicles Wednesday and notified the Maryland State Police, officials said. State police investigators and Maryland Transportation Authority Police officers and the FBI responded to the scene and recovered the body inside a red truck. The state police underwater recovery team and crime scene unit also assisted.

Meanwhile, the broker for the bridge’s insurance policy confirmed Thursday that a $350 million payout will be made to the state of Maryland in what is expected to be the first of many payouts related to the collapse.

Chubb, the company that insured the bridge, is preparing to make the $350 million payment, according to WTW, the broker. Douglas Menelly, a spokesperson for WTW, on Thursday confirmed plans for the payout, which was first reported by The Wall Street Journal. Chubb did not immediately respond to a request for comment Thursday.

The Maryland Transportation Authority said Thursday that the state’s treasurer filed a claim on the day of the bridge’s collapse “against our $350 million property policy and put on notice our $150 million liability policy first tier carrier on behalf of MDTA.”

“We expect the full property policy to be paid very shortly,” the agency said in a news release.

The Dali container ship has been stationary amid the wreckage since the collapse, but crews plan to refloat and remove the ship, allowing more maritime traffic to resume through Baltimore’s port. Officials expect to have it removed by May 10, according to a Port of Baltimore news release.

Salvage and demolition crews were still working around the clock to clear wreckage from the collapse site. They’re now focused primarily on freeing the Dali from a massive steel span that came crashing down on the ship’s bow.

That will allow the ship to be refloated and guided back into the Port of Baltimore. It will also allow most maritime traffic to resume through the busy East Coast port.

On Thursday morning, crews were preparing for a controlled demolition that will break down the largest remaining span and send it tumbling into the water. Then a massive hydraulic grabber will lift the resulting sections of steel onto barges.

The hydraulic grabber, which officials have called the largest in the country, was also in motion Thursday morning. Moving ever so slowly, the giant claw descended into the depths of the Patapsco River and emerged with a steel beam in its trusses. It was operating in tandem with the Chesapeake 1000, one of the largest cranes on the Eastern Seaboard.



Maryland officials release timeline, cost estimate for rebuilding bridge

Where's the money from the ship's owners? Surely they carried insurance.
Maybe Chubb goes after them to recover their losses.

^^^Not sure if this was posted before, but it explains the complex web of Insurance and the surprising Limits of Liability/Damages in the Maritime Industry.

quote:

Originally posted by nhracecraft:
^^^Not sure if this was posted before, but it explains the complex web of Insurance and the surprising Limits of Liability/Damages in the Maritime Industry.

[FLASH_VIDEO]<iframe frameborder="0" height="405" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/2Wim-_Q_59o?si=oYwHz71s7g6PxlPp" title="YouTube video player" width="720"></iframe>[/FLASH_VIDEO]

Keep the ship and all the containers- auction everything off. The buyers of the contents can contest their payments since they never received their goods. We had a 40HQ container full of medical equipment, fall off a ship in a storm (It happens more than you think) we never transferred any funds for it the factory re-made the goods as they had insured the container.

videos of explosive clearing of the ship from bridge debris

https://www.msn.com/en-us/mone...c0e408161321f1&ei=37

Juan's commentary on the just-released NTSB Preliminary report on the power outages that led to the Dali's loss of engine power and steering.

DoJ Sues Dali Container Ship Owners for $100M, Alleging 'Jerry-Rigged' Vessel Collapsed Baltimore Bridge

https://www.zerohedge.com/mark...-collapsed-baltimore

The Justice Department alleges that the mechanical and electrical systems on the massive container ship that struck the Francis Scott Key Bridge in a critical shipping channel in the waterways of Baltimore City earlier this year had been 'jerry-rigged' and improperly maintained, resulting in a power outage in the moments before the ship toppled the bridge.

"This tragedy was entirely avoidable. The electrical and mechanical systems on the DALI were improperly maintained and configured in a way that violated safety regulations and norms for international shipping. These problems precipitated a power loss and then a cascading series of failures that culminated in the collision," the complaint read, which was filed in Maryland and provides the most details yet into failures on the Dali that left the crew paralyzed.

The complaint continued, "As events unfolded, and because of the unseaworthy condition of the ship, none of the four means available to help control the DALI—her propeller, rudder, anchor, or bow thruster—worked when they were needed to avert or even mitigate this disaster. Mechanical and electrical systems on the massive container ship had been 'jerry-rigged' and improperly maintained, culminating in a horrific power outage moments before it crashed into a support column on the Francis Scott Key Bridge in March. Six construction workers were killed when the bridge plunged into the water."

As a result of the disaster, the US government is seeking a civil claim totaling $100 million, claiming these costs were associated with salvage efforts and reopening the Port of Baltimore. The complaint said that Dali's Singaporean owners "sent an ill-prepared crew on an abjectly unseaworthy vessel to navigate the United States' waterways, adding that Grace Ocean Private Limited and Synergy Marine "cut corners."

"With this civil claim, the Justice Department is working to ensure that the costs of clearing the channel and reopening the Port of Baltimore are borne by the companies that caused the crash, not by the American taxpayers," Attorney General Merrick B. Garland wrote in a statement.

According to the local newspaper, Baltimore Sun, "The suit does not seek to recover costs from the rebuilding of the bridge, which is expected to open in 2028, since the state of Maryland owns the structure. The state is expected to later file its own suit."

We stressed right after the Dali incident that federal officials must start vetting the crews of vessels with foreign crews navigating US waterways. This poses a significant national security risk on its own.

More at link

^^^ I have a hard time believing anything from DoJ and lean more towards the lines of the opposite is true and the DoJ is covering a Democrats ass somewhere.

Pretty jaded attitude, I know.

Yeah, didn’t Brandon say the Federal Gov’t was going to pay for the new bridge? It was a dumb thing to say, especially early in the process.

If the ship was held together with baling wire, yes, they can pay(insurance) for the bulk of it.

Owners Of Ship Involved In Baltimore Bridge Collapse Settle DOJ Lawsuit For $100 Million

https://www.zerohedge.com/poli...-lawsuit-100-million

The owner and operator of the cargo ship that caused a Baltimore bridge collapse has agreed to pay nearly $102 million to settle a civil lawsuit with the Department of Justice, the DOJ announced Thursday.

The Dali collided with one of the columns of the Francis Scott Key bridge in March, after the ship suffered mechanical issues, which caused the bridge to collapse and kill six workers.

The incident forced Baltimore to close its port and federal channel for months, which slowed commercial shipping traffic that flowed through Maryland's largest city.

As The Epoch Times' Caden Pearson reports, the DOJ announced the settlement with Grace Ocean and Synergy Marine, the owners and operators of the Motor Vessel Dali, on Oct. 24.

The deal resolves a portion of the legal dispute that began in September when the DOJ sued the companies for damages linked to the federal government’s response to the incident.

The $101.9 million settlement will cover the federal government’s costs for cleaning up the wreckage and reopening the port. However, it does not address the cost of rebuilding the bridge itself, which the state of Maryland is pursuing in a separate claim.

“Thanks to the hard work of the Justice Department attorneys since day one of this disaster, we were able to secure this early settlement of our claim, just over one month into litigation,” Benjamin Mizer, principal deputy associate attorney general, said in a statement.

“This resolution ensures that the costs of the federal government’s cleanup efforts in the Fort McHenry Channel are borne by Grace Ocean and Synergy and not the American taxpayer.”

In a separate move, Grace Ocean has already paid nearly $100,000 to the Coast Guard to address the oil spill threat caused by the wreck.

“This is a tremendous outcome that fully compensates the United States for the costs it incurred in responding to this disaster and holds the owner and operator of the Dali accountable,” said Brian Boynton, principal deputy assistant attorney general at the DOJ.

The $100 million settlement does seem a little shy of the estimates of the costs involved in rebuilding the bridge.

As Shailen Bhatt, administrator of the Federal Highway Administration, confirmed to lawmakers in May, a preliminary estimate to replace the bridge at $1.7 billion to $1.9 billion. It will take four years to construct, with completion estimated to come sometime in 2028, he said.

So while they may claim the "American taxpayer" is off the hook, we suspect that is another lie (because the optics would be bad).

More at link

So the company that caused the damage gets away for less than 10c on the dollar of damage ? Must have been depreciation of the old bridge or something. Seems the loss of time and wasted gas of all those commuters using the bridge for 5 years (if rebuilt on time and budget… lol) is somehow calculatable but not really… Once again BOHICA Mr. and Mrs taxpayer.

quote:

Originally posted by ElToro:
So the company that caused the damage gets away for less than 10c on the dollar of damage ?

No. Not even close. Their legal issues are far from over.

"The $101.9 million settlement will cover the federal government’s costs for cleaning up the wreckage and reopening the port. However, it does not address the cost of rebuilding the bridge itself, which the state of Maryland is pursuing in a separate claim."

quote:

Originally posted by synthplayer:

quote:

Originally posted by LS1 GTO:
Pretty jaded attitude, I know.

Not unwarranted.

Prior to 2016, I would have disagreed with you and LS1. Now, my first assumption is what are they really doing, or hiding?


.