The Maryland settles a $2.25 billion agreement with the owner and operator of the ship that destroyed the bridge
The companies operating the Dali deny any wrongdoing
The operators are accused of misleading the NTSB
(Updated with company statements and agreement with the state in paragraphs 2, 5, and 6) by David Shepardson
The U.S. Department of Justice said on Tuesday that a grand jury had indicted two foreign operators and a land-based official in connection with the March 2024 collision of the 299-meter cargo ship Dali, which destroyed the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore and caused the deaths of six construction workers.
Additionally, Maryland’s Attorney General Anthony Brown stated that the state had reached a final agreement of $2.25 billion with Grace Ocean Private Limited and Synergy Marine Pte Ltd, the owner and operator of the Dali, before the trial date set for June 1. This agreement does not settle Maryland’s claims against the shipbuilder, Hyundai Heavy Industries.
The Justice Department stated that the collision resulted in at least $5 billion in damages and significant environmental harm. Last year, the National Transportation Safety Board concluded that a single loosened wire in the electrical system caused an unexpected circuit breaker opening, leading to a series of events that caused two power outages on board the ship as well as a loss of propulsion and steerage.
The operators of the Dali – Synergy Marine Pte Ltd, based in Singapore, and Synergy Maritime Pte Ltd, based in Chennai, India, along with Radhakrishnan Karthik Nair, a 47-year-old Indian national who worked for both companies as the technical superintendent of the Dali – are charged with conspiracy, deliberate failure to immediately inform the U.S. Coast Guard of a known dangerous situation, obstruction of an administrative procedure, and false statements.
Prosecutors stated that Nair is believed to be in India.
The two Synergy companies declared in a statement that they would defend against the charges, claiming that the NTSB had determined that the cause was “an independent fault of Synergy Marine.” They expressed deep distress over the criminal accusations, indicating that the NTSB and other evidence “clearly refute any allegation of fault on the part of the Dali’s crew.”
Synergy Marine added that they were concerned that the Justice Department had kept the Dali crew members in the United States for over two years “despite evidence indicating that their actions were timely and reasonable given the circumstances.”
The three men were charged with conspiracy to defraud the United States and causing the death of six construction workers on the bridge, among other charges, including providing false statements and documents to the NTSB.
The two Synergy companies are also accused of violating the Clean Water Act, Oil Pollution Act, and Refuse Act by discharging pollutants into the Patapsco River.
According to the indictment, the Dali experienced two power outages within four minutes while leaving the port of Baltimore, leading it to collide with the Key Bridge.
The Justice Department stated that the defendants are suspected of relying on a flushing pump to fuel two of the Dali’s four generators, but this pump was not designed to restart automatically after a power failure, and the Dali’s generators could not operate without fuel supply.
The indictment alleges that if the Dali had used appropriate fuel feed pumps, the ship would have regained power in time to safely pass under the bridge.
