The operator of the container ship that lost power and slammed into Baltimore’s Francis Scott Key Bridge more than two years ago — killing six people and causing the bridge to collapse — is facing federal charges.
An indictment unsealed Tuesday morning charges Synergy Marine’s Singapore- and India-based operations with conspiracy to defraud the United States, failing to inform the U.S. Coast Guard of a known hazardous condition, false statements and obstructing an agency proceeding. Technical superintendent Radhakrishnan Karthik Nair, a national of India, was also indicted.
It marks the first criminal charges in connection with the MV Dali, which crashed into the Key Bridge while heading out to sea from the Port of Baltimore early in the morning of March 26, 2024. Six highway construction workers died. A project to replace the bridge is expected to cost billions of dollars and take until the end of the decade.
Federal prosecutors allege the defendants in Tuesday’s indictment improperly used a “flushing pump” to supply diesel to two of the Dali’s generators, rather than the vessel’s “proper” fuel supply pumps.
The company and Nair were also charged with obstruction and making false statements during a National Transportation Safety Board investigation. Nair is accused of telling the NTSB that he didn’t know the flushing pump was used to supply fuel.
CBS News is reaching out to Synergy and Nair for comment.
An NTSB report blames the crash on two onboard power outages. The first outage was caused by a loose wire in the ship’s switchboard that became disconnected, causing the Dali’s main engine to shut down because the pumps that supplied water to cool the engine turned off, the NTSB said. The ship’s steering system was also briefly offline.
The crew restored power quickly, but the Dali then faced a second blackout that the NTSB blamed in part on the flushing pump referenced in the indictment. Unlike a pump that’s designed specifically to supply diesel to a generator, the NTSB said the flushing pump, which was designed to clear fuel out of piping for maintenance, didn’t have redundancies and couldn’t restart automatically after an outage. The report called the use of that pump “inappropriate.”
The NTSB said the flushing pump had been used for months leading up to the crash. The agency said managers for Synergy “were unaware that the flushing pump on the Dali was being used as a service pump,” and quoted an unnamed technical manager who said it would not be acceptable to use the flushing pump as the generators’ fuel source.
Beyond Tuesday’s criminal charges, the Dali’s operator and owner — Synergy and Grace Ocean Private Limited, respectively — have faced a complicated web of civil claims from the federal government, the state of Maryland, the city and county of Baltimore, the families of the victims, the owners of cargo and a range of other parties who have alleged negligence.
Synergy and Grace Ocean settled with the Justice Department for more than $100 million in 2024, and they struck a settlement with the state of Maryland last month. Other claims are expected to go to trial next month, with the owner and operator denying negligence and arguing that their liability is limited to the value of the ship and its contents.