Inspector who leaped to safety from the Key Bridge collapse to file claim against Dali owner

BALTIMORE -- A road work inspector who leaped to safety just before the Francis Scott Key Bridge collapsed last March is planning to file a claim against the cargo ship's owner and manager, according to Baltimore civil rights attorney Billy Murphy.

Damon Davis, who was on the bridge just before it fell into the Patapsco River, wasn't at Thursday's news conference, but his attorneys shared some of his experience.

"He began running," attorney Ron Richardson said. "His car went down with the bridge and then he took a giant leap to make it to that part of the bridge that was still standing. He made that leap successfully."

Murphy said Davis is still suffering from PTSD.

"You can visualize, as he is coming forward, the bridge is collapsing behind him," said Murphy, who plans to file a claim on Davis's behalf.

Eight construction workers were filling potholes on March 26 when the Dali cargo ship lost power and crashed into the bridge. Six of those workers died.

DOJ seeks $100 million in lawsuit

Murphy said the lawsuit filed by the federal government is the most significant among the slew of lawsuits filed this week. The Department of Justice accuses the owner of the Dali cargo ship of negligence for causing the catastrophic Key Bridge collapse. 

The lawsuit, seeking $100 million in punitive damages, was filed Wednesday.

"If what the government says in its papers is true, that makes our case a hell of a lot easier," Murphy said.

The government's lawsuit accuses the owner of the Dali, Grace Ocean Private Limited, and its manager, Synergy Marine Private Limited, of ignoring electrical and mechanical problems on the vessel that led to the ship crashing into the bridge.

"That led the government to do something that we, frankly, cannot remember it doing in modern history, and that is making its evaluation that this was so bad," Murphy said. "So many human and ship-based failures that they're asking for punitive damages."

Efforts to limit liability

Shortly after the crash, the owner of the Dali filed a claim to try to limit its liability to only $44 million, enough to cover the ship and its contents.

Murphy believes that since federal agencies are leading the investigation into the crash, and now a federal civil lawsuit has been filed, if the government wins its case, the owner of the Dali could be held liable for the other suits brought against it.

"They're going further than making sure that everybody's made whole," Murphy said. "They're going to go beyond that and ask for a huge amount of money to punish this ship owner."

Families file lawsuit

Earlier this week, family members of three of the construction workers killed in the crash also announced plans to file a lawsuit.

These lawsuits are being filed now because there is a deadline on Tuesday, Sept. 24 for those with claims against the owner and operator of the Dali.

Dali headed to China

The Dali departed for China Thursday morning after undergoing repairs for months in Virginia.

The ship had been stationed at the Port of Virginia's international terminal in Norfolk since it was relocated from the Port of Baltimore in June.