DALI

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Owner and operator filed lawsuit against Hyundai Heavy Industries

On July 31, the Grace Ocean Private Ltd. and the Synergy Marine Private Ltd, the owner and operator of the 'Dali', have filed a lawsuit against Hyundai Heavy Industries (HHI), the builder of the container ship. The lawsuit alleged that the ship's allision with the Francis Scott Key Bridge was caused by HHI's negligence, stating that a "defective design" is what led to the loss of power on the ship. In the complaint filedin the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, Grace Ocean (the registered owner of Dali) and Synergy Marine (its technical manager) alleged that Hyundai improperly engineered and installed a key component of the ship’s electrical distribution system. The claim centred around an under-voltage release (UVR) mechanism tied to one of the ship’s main circuit breakers. The lawsuit stated that a loose wire at node 381 on the ship's electrical switchboard caused a power outage, which led to the engine shutting down and a loss of steering. According to court documents, two minutes after the power went out, a complete electrical blackout occurred. At 1:28 a.m., the ship allided with the Francis Key Bridge. The plaintiffs contended that the wiring connection, which was designed to carry control signals, was compromised due to the incorrect placement of a labelling band, preventing secure contact within the terminal block. This flaw disrupted the power supply and ultimately led to a full-scale electrical shutdown. U.S. federal authorities, including the National Transportation Safety Board and the Coast Guard, had earlier identified issues within the vessel’s electrical infrastructure as pivotal in their investigation. A report released in June had confirmed a break in continuity within the control circuit. Additional technical assessments documented loosely secured cabling, which engineers from Hyundai reportedly acknowledged could lead to system failure—a conclusion later substantiated during controlled simulations. The 'Dali' had suffererd prior electrical anomalies, including a blackout while docked in Baltimore shortly before its final voyage. These prior events, combined with reports of degraded maintenance conditions and makeshift onboard repairs, have raised serious concerns over the vessel’s operational integrity and its compliance with maritime safety standards. Apart from the lawsuit, Grace Ocean and Synergy Marine are also facing significant legal challenges. The U.S. Department of Justice filed a separate $100 million action in Sep 2024, accusing the companies of knowingly operating an unseaworthy ship and failing to disclose mechanical and electrical deficiencies. The State of Maryland has also launched litigation, seeking financial recovery for damages related to the bridge’s destruction, emergency response costs, and infrastructure restoration. As a defense strategy, the ship’s owner and operator have been seeking to limit their liability through maritime law provisions while redirecting part of the responsibility toward the original equipment manufacturer. Their suit against HD Hyundai includes claims for the cost of vessel repairs and potential compensation across dozens of civil cases involving economic loss, property damage, cargo disruption, personal injuries, and environmental impacts. The construction of the 'Dali' had started in 2014, with the delivery in 2015. The current product liability action accused Hyundai of failing to ensure that all electrical connections on the switchboard were properly secured during fabrication and assembly, and that the system was unsafe from the point of delivery. HD Hyundai has been formally notified of the suit and is expected to respond through legal channels in the coming weeks. This litigation adds a new layer of complexity to an already expansive network of legal proceedings stemming from one of the most consequential maritime incidents in recent U.S. history. A report released by the National Transportation Safety Board in 2024 stated that a cable that was supposed to connect with a control for blackout detection was loose. If not properly connected, the switchboard can lose power without ever being recorded on the ship's sensor, per the NTSB report. The lawsuit stated that HHI knew about the possibility of loose wires in the switchboard and knew, or should have been aware the vessel was at risk of power outages. Grace Ocean Private Limited and Synergy Marine PTE have since denied any wrongdoing since April 1, 2024. 45 claims are currently pending for property damage, economic damages, clean-up costs, personal injury, wrongful death, survival, workers' compensation reimbursement, and cargo and general average.

Hyundai claimed for manufacturing defect

As a federal court in Baltimore continued to hear pre-trial motions and collect evidence for the claims pending related to the 'Dal'’ 2024 incident, the owner and operator of the vessel are now suing the builders of the vessel alleging negligence or gross negligence in the design, construction, and/or manufacture of the critical switchboard which has become the focus of the investigations into the cause of the blackout aboard the vessel. The National Transportation Safety Board and the teams from the U.S. Coast Guard and other agencies investigating the cause of the allision with the bridge quickly centered in on the power supply, critical circuit breakers, and the switchboard for the ship’s electrical systems. It has long been recognized that something caused the vessel’s breakers to trip, shutting off the power to the motor and critical systems, including the hydraulics to control the rudder. As early as June 2024, it came out that the NTSB had found "an interruption in the control circuit” linked to the main breakers. A subsequent report revealed that a check of the wiring on the transformer and a relay found a “cable was loosely connected,” a condition which representatives from the shipbuilder Hyundai informed could create an open circuit and interrupt the 110VDC power on the HV side of the board. According to the report, the engineers said it would trigger an under-voltage release trip, which would result in a 440V blackout, and they later demonstrated it in tests. In a suit filed on July 31 in the U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Pennsylvania, the owners of the 'Dali', the Grace Ocean, and the operators of the vessel, the Synergy Marine, alleged, Hyundai Heavy Industries defectively designed the switchboard in such a manner that wiring connections were not secure, could not be verified as secure, and could lose connection during normal operation, such that the signal wire was not designed to remain securely connected to the terminal block, which design defect caused the switchboard and the vessel to be unreasonably dangerous and in a defective condition when it left HHI’s control. The court filing revealed that a UVR coil for the circuit breaker was not receiving control voltage, and that it was discovered that one of the control signal wires in the UVR control circuit was not securely connected to its terminal block.Because the signal wire was not securely connected, the insufficient contact created an open circuit. The suit alleged the wire was not securely connected because the “labeling band identifying the wire was installed too close to the ferrule crimped on the end of the wire.” It goes on to assert, “As a result of this and other defects, the signal wire could not be inserted fully into the terminal block’s spring clamp gate.” The companies are seeking the cost of damage to the vessel and resulting repair costs as well as contribution and/or indemnity as it relates to the 45 claims ranging from property damage to economic damages, clean-up costs, personal injury, wrongful death, survival, workers’ compensation reimbursement, and cargo and general average in the Maryland civil case. The court is set next year to hear the first of two phases in that case centered on Grace Ocean and Synergy Marine’s limitation of liability claim, and based on that outcome, the potential size of the liability. There have been multiple reports about power problems and failures on the vessel before that night, including at the dock in Baltimore. The NTSB, in its reports, has also highlighted the maintenance of the vessel, citing examples of wear and makeshift repairs. The U.S. has claimed the vessel was not seaworthy, and Maryland and Baltimore, in their claims, cite the training and maintenance of the vessel. Hyundai Heavy Industries has been served in the product liability case and will file its response in due course. This will start the parallel case seeking to place blame for the defects found on the vessel.

New details of technical conditions emerged during investigations of lawyers

New details have emerged about the condition of the 'Dali', as the lawyers gathered information about the ship and continued their discovery process and interview crew members. New revelations from lawyers representing the state of Maryland and other claimants seeking damages from the owner company Grace Ocean Private, and the managers of the Synergy Marine Group, included brake failures on one of the anchors. The hydraulic brake on the port side anchor windlass had been inoperable for nearly two weeks,.The unseaworthy condition meant the anchor windlass could only be operated with the manual brake, a two-man job. Despite that situation, only one man was posted to the bow on March 26, 2024, which meant when the time came to deploy the anchor, he was unable to do so. The lawyers alleged that that had devastating consequences for properly diverting the ship from disaster. Additionally, the documents stated that the ship was without one of its four generators. The crew only ran two of the three remaining generators as it left port. The Chief Engineer admitted that the second blackout would never have occurred if the ship had been using three generators rather than two. The state of Maryland, the city of Baltimore, numerous companies and families of the victims who died on the bridge are all suing the Grace Ocean and Synergy. Depositions have been taken from the crew, but the testimony remains redacted at this time. Earlier, the Maryland Attorney General’s Office asked ZeroNorth for its communications information with Grace Ocean as part of the discovery phase of the case. ZeroNorth owns the software SMARTShip, which is used to remotely monitor vessels. The communications of the owners and managers of the 'Dali' with Alpha Ori and ZeroNorth will be critical in establishing how SMARTShip was utilized onboard the ship, and what information shoreside personnel chose to monitor. The trail Grace Ocean and Synergy is set for next summer.