Baltimore Bridge Collapse: Timeline of the Event
The container ship that crashed into the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Maryland appeared to lose power twice before hitting the bridge.
A grand jury has indicted the operator of a ship that crashed into Baltimore’s Francis Scott Key Bridge in 2024, sending the ship into the Patapsco River and killing six workers, on charges including negligence and conspiracy against the government.
Synergy Marine, based in Singapore. Synergy Maritime, based in Chennai, India, and employee Radhakrishnan Karthik Nair were named as defendants in the indictment, which was unsealed on May 12 in the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland.
The companies were indicted on charges including conspiracy to defraud the U.S. government, failure to report a dangerous condition, and aiding and abetting an unlawful act, or negligent death of a vessel’s personnel. Mr. Nile was also separately charged with four overlapping charges.
In a statement to USA TODAY, Synergy Marine Group said, “We are surprised and disappointed by the announcement that the U.S. Department of Justice is filing criminal charges against Synergy. The Department of Justice is criminalizing a tragic accident,” calling the allegations in the indictment “baseless.”
The Dali container ship collided with the pier supporting the bridge’s center span in the early morning hours of March 26, 2024. The bridge collapsed into the river below, killing six construction workers and bringing the Port of Baltimore’s main shipping artery to a screeching halt.
Prosecutors said in a May 12 news release that the defendants failed to immediately notify the U.S. Coast Guard of known hazardous issues on the Dali and made false statements to investigators.
“The collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge was a preventable tragedy with far-reaching consequences,” said Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche. “This indictment is an important step in holding accountable those whose reckless disregard for maritime safety regulations caused this disaster.”
Prosecutors said Dali experienced two power outages in four minutes, likely caused by loose wiring in a high-voltage switchboard. Dali’s pilots allegedly used an incorrect fuel pump, which prevented the ship from automatically restoring power and safely navigating around the bridge.
“According to the indictment, the defendants allegedly modified the vessel and relied on flushing pumps to fuel two of Dali’s four generators. However, the flushing pumps were not designed to restart automatically after a power outage, and Dali’s generators could not operate without a fuel supply, resulting in the ship ultimately experiencing a second power outage,” the Justice Department said in a statement.
Nile, 47, is an Indian national who worked for these companies as a technical supervisor on ships. He is accused of lying to the National Transportation Safety Board that he had no knowledge that Dali was using improper pumps to fuel its generators.
Synergy Marine Group said in a statement that the use of a flushing pump was unrelated to the cause of the crash, which was caused by an underlying manufacturer defect, namely loose wiring in the ship’s electrical system. Synergy said the wires were in no way caused by the ship’s operations.
The NTSB determined that the wires were severed because they were not labeled correctly. The crew was required to regularly inspect the ship’s electrical panel, but the instructions provided no practical guidance for inspecting the thousands of wires, the NTSB said. HD Hyundai Heavy Industries, which built the ship in 2015, previously said in a statement that there were “no signs of loose wires” upon delivery of the ship.
Also on May 12, Maryland Attorney General Anthony Brown announced that the state had reached a definitive agreement with the ship’s operator and owner, Synergy and Grace Ocean Private Limited, to settle the matter for $2.25 billion.
