WASHINGTON: A Singapore-based company and another in India have been indicted on multiple criminal charges over a 2024 ship crash that destroyed a bridge in the US state of Maryland and left six people dead, officials said Tuesday (May 12).
Synergy Marine, based in Singapore, and Synergy Maritime, based in Chennai, India, are accused of conspiracy to defraud, making false statements to the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) and other charges.
An Indian national, Radhakrishnan Karthik Nair, 47, who worked for both companies as technical superintendent for the ship, the M/V Dali, is also named in the indictment unsealed on Tuesday.
US Attorney Kelly Hayes said Nair is not in custody and is believed to be in India.
The Dali, a 984-foot container ship, suffered a series of electrical problems in the early morning of March 26, 2024, and crashed into the Francis Scott Key Bridge over the Patapsco River, which collapsed like a house of cards, blocking the busy shipping channel for the port of Baltimore.
Six construction workers on the bridge, all Latin American immigrants, fell to their deaths.
The NTSB found that the probable cause of the disaster was a loss of electrical power due to a loose wire connection in a high-voltage switchboard, resulting in the vessel losing propulsion and steering as it approached the bridge.
"The collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge was a preventable tragedy of enormous consequence," acting Attorney General Todd Blanche said in a statement.
"This indictment is a critical step toward holding accountable those whose reckless disregard for maritime safety regulations caused this disaster."
FBI special agent Jimmy Paul said the indictment "reveals a pattern of deception and egregious violations that led to the unsafe operation of the Dali which recklessly endangered the public and resulted in the ship striking the bridge."
"Synergy and Radhakrishnan Karthik Nair repeatedly failed to document, investigate and report significant safety risks and hazards aboard the Dali," Paul said. "They forged safety inspections and certifications.
"They falsely claimed the ship was in good working order and then lied to investigators about their actions when they were questioned."
The US Justice Department announced in October 2024 that it had reached a US$100 million settlement with Singapore's Synergy Marine and another company, Grace Ocean, to recover costs incurred in responding to the disaster and for removing tons of bridge debris from the channel leading to the port of Baltimore.
Maryland authorities have said it will cost more than $5.2 billion to rebuild the bridge with completion envisioned in 2030. - AFP
