The Justice Department filed a lawsuit against the owner and operator of the Dali ship that caused the “entirely avoidable” March collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge.

The lawsuit filed in Maryland Wednesday against Dali owner, Grace Ocean Private, and its operator, Synergy Marine Group, reveals the DOJ is seeking more than $100 million in damages that the government spent clearing the incident from the Port of Baltimore.

It also seeks punitive damages to deter future “harmful conduct.”

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“Other vessel owners and operators must be deterred from engaging in such reckless and exceedingly harmful behavior in the United States’ navigable waters,” it said.

The lawsuit alleged the electrical and mechanical systems on the Dali “were improperly maintained and configured in a way that violated safety regulations and norms for international shipping.”

“These problems precipitated a power loss and then a cascading series of failures that culminated in the allision,” it said.  “As events unfolded, and because of the unseaworthy condition of the ship, none of the four means available to help control the DALI — her propeller, rudder, anchor, or bow thruster — worked when they were needed to avert or even mitigate this disaster.

Attorney General Merrick Garland said in a statement that the civil claim is the Justice Department “working to ensure that the costs of clearing the channel and reopening the Port of Baltimore are borne by the companies that caused the crash, not by the American taxpayer.”

Darrell Wilson, a spokesperson for Grace Ocean and Synergy Marine, said the owner and manager had no comment at this time, but “look forward to our day in court to set the record straight.”

The ship was heading out of Baltimore early March 26 when it lost power and crashed into the bridge’s columns. The incident killed six construction workers. It finally left Baltimore in June, nearly three months later.

Documents last week by the National Transportation Safety Board revealed the discovery of a loose cable on the ship that triggered an electrical blackout when disconnected.

But, the Dali had previously experienced a power outage while it was still docked in Baltimore.

The lawsuit points to “heavy vibrations, a well-known cause of transformer and electrical failure,” and said instead of fixing it, they “jury-rigged” the ship.

“In sum, this accident happened because of the careless and grossly negligent decisions made by Grace Ocean and Synergy, who recklessly chose to send an unseaworthy vessel to navigate a critical waterway and ignored the risks to American lives and the nation’s infrastructure,” said Acting Deputy Assistant Attorney General Chetan A. Patil.