The US justice department sued the owners of the Dali container ship after it crashed into a bridge in Baltimore in March.

The owners of a container ship that crashed into Baltimore’s Francis Scott Key Bridge have been ordered to pay the US government more than $100m (£77.1m) in damages, the US justice department has announced.

Grace Ocean Private Limited and Synergy Marine Private Limited, the companies that owned and operated the Dali have agreed to pay, resolving a month-long civil lawsuit.

The justice department called the 26 March collision that killed six and sent tonnes of debris into the river “one of the worst transportation disasters in recent memory”.

Payment will go to the US Treasury and other federal agencies directly affected by the collision or involved in the response.