US prosecutors charge Singapore firm, two other parties over 2024 Baltimore bridge collapse

[WASHINGTON] The US Justice Department said on Tuesday (May 12) that a grand jury has indicted two foreign operators and a shoreside superintendent in relation to the collision of the 984-foot cargo ship Dali.

The incident, which occurred in March 2024, destroyed Baltimore’s Francis Scott Key Bridge and killed six construction workers.

The Justice Department said the collision caused at least US$5 billion in damage and significant environmental damage.

The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) found a single loose wire in the electrical system caused a breaker to unexpectedly open, launching a sequence of events that led to two vessel blackouts and a loss of propulsion and steering.

Singapore-based Synergy Marine, Chennai-based Synergy Maritime, and Radhakrishnan Karthik Nair, 47, an Indian national who worked for both companies as the technical superintendent for the Dali, are charged with conspiracy, wilfully failing to immediately inform the US Coast Guard of a known hazardous condition, obstruction of an agency proceeding and false statements.

Prosecutors said Nair is believed to be in India.

The companies and individual were charged with conspiracy to defraud the US and with causing the death of six construction workers on the bridge, among other charges.

The companies and Nair are also charged with providing false statements and documents to the NTSB.

The two Synergy corporations are also charged with violations of the Clean Water Act, Oil Pollution Act and Refuse Act for the discharge of pollutants into the Patapsco River.

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According to the indictment, the Dali lost power twice in a four-minute span as it was leaving the Port of Baltimore, causing it to crash into the Key Bridge.

The Justice Department said that the defendants are accused of relying on a flushing pump to supply fuel to two of the Dali’s four generators, but the flushing pump was not designed to automatically restart following a blackout, and the Dali’s generators could not operate without a fuel supply.

The indictment alleged that if the Dali had been using proper fuel supply pumps, the vessel would have regained power in time to safely navigate under the bridge. REUTERS