Federal prosecutors charge ship operator, employee in Key Bridge collapse

More than two years after a container ship destroyed the Francis Scott Key Bridge, federal prosecutors brought criminal charges against the ship’s Singaporean operator and an employee, accusing them in an indictment unsealed Tuesday of conspiracy, obstruction and misconduct resulting in death.

The U.S. Department of Justice said the March 26, 2024, tragedy could have been averted if the cargo ship Dali’s operator, Synergy Marine Group, had responsibly maintained the ship’s generators. Instead, the company improperly used what are known as flushing pumps.

Synergy connected those pumps to generators — a dangerous practice that can cause blackouts — on at least three vessels since 2020 and later “provided false documents and false statements” to investigators, according to the indictment.

The indictment was returned April 8, and officials announced the charges Tuesday morning at a press conference aboard the NS Savannah, a ship docked in Southeast Baltimore with a view of the bridge wreckage.

Prosecutors said Synergy sought to maximize its profits and “concealed safety information” from regulators to ensure its vessels could do business in U.S. ports. Jimmy Paul, the special agent in charge of the FBI’s Baltimore field office, said the company “deliberately cut corners at the expense of safety.”

Hours after federal prosecutors announced the criminal charges, Maryland Attorney General Anthony Brown revealed that Synergy and the Dali’s owner, Grace Ocean Private Ltd., had agreed to pay the state about $2.25 billion.

That’s the largest settlement yet in the Key Bridge disaster. The companies also agreed to pay just over $100 million to settle with the DOJ and reached an undisclosed deal with ACE American Insurance Company, which paid out $350 million to the state after the bridge collapse.

In a statement, a Synergy spokesperson disputed the criminal allegations and said federal authorities ignored “clear and well-documented findings” that the Dali crew did nothing wrong.

“We are confident that the DOJ cannot and will not meet its burden of proof and that we will prevail at trial,” said the spokesperson, Darrell Wilson. The company previously said Maryland should have better reinforced the bridge — a conclusion also reached by the National Transportation Safety Board.

Wilson questioned the announcement of criminal charges so close to an upcoming civil trial.

With billions at stake, that trial is slated to begin June 1 in U.S. District Court in Baltimore. The ship’s owner and operator have asked the court to limit their liability, saying they are not at fault. Victims’ families, city government, Baltimore Gas and Electric and local businesses are among dozens of parties suing.

“We’re three weeks away from trial,” said L. Chris Stewart, a Georgia-based attorney representing some of the victims’ families. “Three weeks. So this is a bombshell that came today.”

U.S. District Judge James Bredar indicated last month that the civil case was “full speed ahead,” but legal experts say criminal charges could change that.

Every member of the ship crew as well as others invoked their Fifth Amendment rights against self-incrimination during proceedings in the civil case.

Radhakrishnan Karthik Nair, a 47-year-old technical superintendent for the company, also faces criminal charges. He’s accused of removing references to a flushing pump from ship documents.

Maryland U.S. Attorney Kelly Hayes said authorities believe Nair is in India and would use all “available law enforcement tools” to take him into custody.

David Gerger, Nair’s Texas-based attorney, said in a statement: “Once again the government is trying to turn an accident into a crime. Karthik thinks about this tragic accident every day, but he certainly did not cause it.”

In the months after the collapse, the Dali was repaired in China. By January 2025, the ship had returned to service.

But for the past two years, several members of the crew have been marooned in the Baltimore area due to an agreement between the federal government and Synergy.

Meanwhile, the bridge rebuild is at a crossroads.

The state recently separated from its contractor, Kiewit, after the two parties could not agree on the project’s cost. Maryland expects the bridge to cost about $5 billion, while Kiewit proposed a price tag of billions more.

Instead, Maryland will seek a new builder. The span is projected to open at the end of 2030, though finding a new company could extend its schedule.

Shipping is big business — a single vessel can generate hundreds of millions in annual revenue — but operates without much public attention. The bridge collapse was one of the costliest maritime disasters ever and thrust the industry into the spotlight.

Criminal charges against corporations are rare but do occur.

In 2012, oil company BP agreed to plead guilty to felony manslaughter, environmental crimes and obstruction of Congress in connection with the Deepwater Horizon explosion, which killed 11 people and caused the largest offshore oil spill in U.S. history. BP paid $4 billion in fines.

In the case of the Key Bridge, fines could be imposed if the company is found guilty.

“For the corporate individuals, there is a possibility of a fine. That would be twice the loss amount, which is currently estimated to be at least $5 billion,” Hayes said.

The FBI, which boarded the Dali shortly after the collapse, executed more than two dozen search warrants and conducted about 200 interviews as part of a case the agency dubbed “Last Twilight,” a nod to “The Star-Spangled Banner.”

A series of mishaps led to two separate blackouts, which ultimately caused the 100,000-ton vessel to slam into a critical support pier of the bridge.

Prosecutors emphasized Synergy’s role in causing the second blackout, saying it was due to the improper use of a flushing pump hooked up to the ship’s generators. But the company focused Tuesday on the NTSB investigation into the first power loss.

That blackout was prompted by faulty wiring, “a defect outside of Synergy Marine’s control,” said Wilson, the Synergy spokesperson.

The NTSB’s investigation found that wires installed by the ship’s builder, Hyundai Heavy Industries, contributed to its initial loss of power.

Synergy and Grace Ocean sued Hyundai Heavy Industries last year, and the Maryland attorney general also is pursuing claims against the company.

Madeleine O’Neill is a freelance reporter based in Baltimore.