In its claim, the city said the Dali departed and headed toward the Chesapeake Bay facing no high winds or visual obstructions. It was among ocean carriers that pass under the bridge each year to pay around 1,800 calls to what had been one of the nation’s busiest ports.

“The impact of this disaster will be felt for years, and indeed, for the rest of the lives of the families of the people killed as a result of Petitioners’ conduct,” the city said in its filing.

The port, which generated more than $70 billion in economic value last year, had been “an economic engine in a region that has been subject to more than its share of hardship,” the claim said.

The city is seeking a jury trial and argues it is owed damages such as the cost of replacing the bridge, costs linked to the interruption of transportation through the city, costs of increased spending on police, fire and other public employees’ overtime and the loss of taxes and fees on disrupted port businesses.

The price tag to rebuild the nearly 50-year-old steel arch bridge alone could run high into the hundreds of millions of dollars.

Liability limitation petitions such as that filed by Dali owners are routinely filed by vessel owners that do business in the U.S. when faced with catastrophes that cause death, injuries and damage. The Limitation of Liability Act — similar to international convention — was passed in 1851 to protect the nascent U.S. shipping industry from claims for incidents out of owners’ control, such as piracy or storms. The law allows vessel owners to limit liability to the value of the ship and its freight bill if courts determine they’re not at fault.

In today’s market, experts said, the law prevents high-damage payouts from crushing maritime companies and in turn crippling the nation’s ability to maintain a commercial fleet.

But only 32% of petitions succeed in limiting a ship owner’s liability, according to research completed several years ago by Elena Mihos, a master’s student at Tulane University Law School, supervised by Martin Davies, director of Tulane Maritime Law Center.

In its filings Monday, the city argues that the ship owners cannot limit liability because “the Dali was operated in a willful, wanton, and reckless manner.”

U.S. District Judge James K. Bredar had said anyone with a claim against the Dali owners must file it at the federal courthouse in Baltimore by Sept. 24.

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