Families of Key Bridge victims to take legal action against Dali owner, say tragedy was preventable

Almost six months after the cargo ship Dali crashed into the Francis Scott Key Bridge, the families of three of the six construction workers who died in the collapse announced plans Tuesday to pursue legal action against the ship company.

The families are challenging a petition the company filed in April, where Grace Ocean Private, the owner of the Dali, and Synergy Marine Group, the manager of the ship, asked for exoneration from or limitation of liability in U.S. District Court in Baltimore. The companies allege they are not responsible to “any fault, neglect, or want of care” and any “loss or damage” that happened without their privity or knowledge.

The victims’ families said the companies must be held accountable for what they see as a preventable tragedy, and the families are coordinating to file lawsuits, their attorneys said.

On March 26, the 984-foot-long cargo ship lost power multiple times before leaving the Port of Baltimore and striking one of the former bridge’s support piers. A construction crew was filling potholes on the Key Bridge when the Dali struck, and six men were killed. A seventh was pulled from the water and survived.

Attorney Matthew Wessler represents the families of Miguel Angel Luna Gonzales, Jose Mynor Lopez and Dorlian Ronial Castillo Cabrera. Attorney Judson Lipowitz represents Maynor Suazo Sandoval’s relatives.

At the Tuesday press conference, dozens of people in safety vests walked into the main lobby of CASA’s Baltimore worker center, chanting “Todos estamos con ustedes, aqui, ahora y siempre.” We are all with you, they said. Today, tomorrow, always.

They were there to “bear witness” of a tragedy that changed the lives of six families, said CASA Executive Director Gustavo Torres, holding a white rose.

The nonprofit immigration advocacy group has been in contact with some of the family members since the collapse. It was “long and agonizing nights for the families” as they waited for news of their loved ones, Torres said.

“Some reports have labeled this tragedy as possibly the largest maritime financial loss in history,” he said at the press conference. “But let me be clear: no financial loss can compare to the loss of human life.”

Speaking through an interpreter, Maria del Carmen Castellon said her husband Miguel Luna was her “best friend and companion,” a loving and proud father of five, and a grandfather. The night she lost him, a wound opened in her heart that will never be healed, she said in Spanish. Miguel Luna’s son woke her up in the early hours of the morning, telling her he was missing.

Miguel Luna had just been transferred to the night shift, she said. He had come to her food truck to say goodbye to her before heading to work.

“The final memories will be marked forever in my memory and in my heart,” she said. “I will take that with me forever.”

Miguel Luna worked hard to provide for his family, on hot and cold days that wore him out and cost him his health, she said. Last December, he had to have surgery on his hands, she said, adding that she “can’t imagine how much pain he endured.”

Still, he helped her in her food truck, she said. And he remained hopeful. He surprised her a few days before he died, taking her to a place they were trying to rent to open a restaurant.

”We imagined a future where he didn’t have to suffer,” she said, her voice starting to break.

She said she hopes the legal action will ensure that no one loses a spouse like she did, that no other child is left without a parent because of a tragedy that could have been prevented.

She doesn’t expect real justice, though. Real justice would have meant her husband was still alive, she said.