Owners of cargo ship that crashed into Baltimore bridge sue company that built vessel

ANNAPOLIS, Md. (AP) — The owners of the cargo ship that crashed into the Francis Scott Key Bridge are suing the company that built the vessel, alleging negligence in the design of a critical switchboard on the ship.

Grace Ocean Private and Synergy Marine PTE Ltd, the owners of the Dali, filed the lawsuit last week against Hyundai Heavy Industries in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.

“As a result of the defectively designed Switchboard, the Vessel suffered a power outage that led to the allision with the Key Bridge,” Grace Ocean Private alleges in the lawsuit.

Hyundai Heavy Industries could not immediately be reached for comment. Court records in the case did not name legal representatives for Hyundai.

Grace Ocean Private contends the switchboard was defectively designed in a manner that wiring connections were not secure. The defect, the company alleges, “caused the switchboard and the vessel to be unreasonably dangerous ... when it left HHI's control."

“HHI’s defective manufacture of the Switchboard and Vessel caused the signal wiring to come loose in normal operation, resulting in the power outage that led to the allision,” the lawsuit says.

The Dali was leaving Baltimore bound for Sri Lanka on March 26 last year when its steering failed due to the power loss. It crashed into one of the bridge’s supporting columns, destroying the 1.6-mile span and killing six members of a roadwork crew. Baltimore’s port was closed for months, and increased traffic congestion remains a problem across the region.

The Justice Department last year filed a lawsuit seeking to recover more than $100 million that the government spent to clear the underwater debris and reopen the city’s port. The owner and manager of the cargo ship agreed to pay more than $102 million in cleanup costs to settle the lawsuit brought by the government.

In that lawsuit, the Justice Department alleged the owner and manager of the cargo ship recklessly cut corners and ignored known electrical problems on the vessel. In particular, the Justice Department accused the ship owner of failing to address “excessive vibrations” that were causing electrical problems.

The National Transportation Safety Board said in its preliminary report last year that the Dali experienced electrical blackouts about 10 hours before leaving the Port of Baltimore, and yet again shortly before it slammed into the bridge.

Last week, Maryland officials visited the site where demolition crews are using giant saws, backhoes and other heavy equipment to remove large sections of the remaining pieces of the bridge. Its replacement is expected to open in 2028.

A demolition crew removes a slab of concrete from the remaining portions of the Francis Scott Key Bridge, Wednesday, July 30, 2025, in Baltimore. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)

A demolition crew removes a slab of concrete from the remaining portions of the Francis Scott Key Bridge, Wednesday, July 30, 2025, in Baltimore. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)

From center left, Sen. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott and Maryland Gov. Wes Moore speak with representatives of the Maryland Transportation Authority during a tour of the demolition work zone for the remaining portions of the Francis Scott Key Bridge, Wednesday, July 30, 2025, in Baltimore. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)

A slab of concrete is prepared to be removed from the remaining portions of the Francis Scott Key Bridge, Wednesday, July 30, 2025, in Baltimore. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)

AL HENAKIYAH, Saudi Arabia (AP) — Ricky Brabec deliberately gave up his motorbike lead over Luciano Benavides in the Dakar Rally while Nasser Al-Attiyah was happy to cruise through another day closer to his sixth car title on Thursday.

Al-Attiyah started 346-kilometer stage 11 between Bisha north to Al Henakiyah with a 12-minute overall lead and let it drop to less than nine minutes over new second-placed driver Nani Roma in a Ford.

Al-Attiyah was content to let Dacia teammate Sébastien Loeb catch up and pass him to have a teammate nearby for any help and to minimize errors on the mazy, dirt track. Al-Attiyah was 17th, nearly 13 minutes behind stage winner Mattias Ekström, and said he needed to execute the same plan on Friday's last effective racing stage before the end on Saturday.

“If we lose two, three, four minutes no problem,” Al-Attiyah said. “We just need to finish this Dakar in first place.”

Honda cooked up a strategy in the Saudi desert for Adrien van Beveren to open the way and let Brabec catch up after the 190-kilometer pit stop and pick up time bonuses.

Brabec boosted his overall lead from 56 seconds to nearly four minutes just 25 kilometers from the finish. He was also within a minute of the stage lead but he slowed down so KTM rival Benavides was the new overall leader, but only by 23 seconds.

Brabec got his his wish to start Friday's stage 12 six minutes behind Benavides, so he can eye him. They head west to the rally starting point of Yanbu on the Red Sea coast on 311 kilometers of gravel, some river beds with a finish in the dunes.

“A little bit of strategy today and hopefully it pays off tomorrow,” Brabec said. "I feel like its going to be a good day. We’re going back into the rocks so it will be a little bit better for us.”

Brabec is counting on his experience of winning the Dakar in 2020 and 2024 to trump Benavides, who has a best placing of fourth last year.

“I've been in this situation before,” Brabec said. “For the whole two weeks I've been just trying to stay relax, stay comfortable and just be confident, so two days more. I'm gonna do the same thing tomorrow that I've been doing every day; ride dirt bikes and have fun.”

Van Beveren helped Brabec with navigation while fighting with another teammate, Skyler Howes, the entire day for the stage win.

Howes prevailed by 21 seconds for his first career major stage in his eighth Dakar. He was third in 2023 and sixth last year. He's running fifth, 34 minutes off the pace.

Benavides was fourth in the stage and believed the race will be decided on the final 105-kilometer sprint on Saturday.

“I played no strategy like Ricky. I don't care,” Benavides said. “I'm doing what I can to control what I can control.”

Ekström won his third car stage of this Dakar, a special so fast that 12 other drivers were within 10 minutes.

Ford achieved another 1-2-3 stage. Romain Dumas, a three-time winner of the Le Mans 24 Hours, was a career-best second just over a minute back and Carlos Sainz was third.

Only Toyota's Henk Lategan beat Ekström to a checkpoint but Lategan's podium hopes were wrecked after 140 kilometers when a bearing broke on his rear left wheel. Lategan was second last year and second overall overnight but he plunged out of the top 15, at least.

Loeb moved up to third overall, 10 minutes behind Roma and three minutes ahead of Ekström.

AP auto racing: https://apnews.com/hub/auto-racing

Rider Daniel Sanders competes during the eleventh stage of the Dakar Rally between Bisha and Al Henakiyah, Saudi Arabia, Thursday, Jan.15, 2026. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)

Driver Nasser Al-Attiyah and co-driver Fabian Lurquin compete during the eleventh stage of the Dakar Rally between Bisha and Al Henakiyah, Saudi Arabia, Thursday, Jan.15, 2026. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)

Rider Skyler Howes competes during the eleventh stage of the Dakar Rally between Bisha and Al Henakiyah, Saudi Arabia, Thursday, Jan.15, 2026. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)

Driver Henk Lategan, left, and co-driver Brett Cummings repair their car during the eleventh stage of the Dakar Rally between Bisha and Al Henakiyah, Saudi Arabia, Thursday, Jan.15, 2026. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)

Driver Nani Roma and co-driver Alex Haro compete during the eleventh stage of the Dakar Rally between Bisha and Al Henakiyah, Saudi Arabia, Thursday, Jan.15, 2026. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)