Dali engineer appears in court on felony charge; prosecution deferred

Perhaps the only individual who may see the inside of a courtroom for the Francis Scott Key Bridge disaster appeared in court, where federal prosecutors said Thursday they would not pursue a conviction if he complies with certain terms.

The chief engineer of the Dali container ship, 46-year-old Indian national Karthikeyan Deenadayalan, said little during the hearing, which occurred three days after federal prosecutors charged him with one felony count of violating the Ports and Waterways Safety Act.

Prosecutors say Deenadayalan “knowingly and willfully” failed to notify the U.S. Coast Guard about the inappropriate use of pumps hooked up to generators aboard the Dali in the days before the collapse.

Six people died in the bridge collapse, and the company that owned the ship has agreed to pay billions in civil claims and penalties. The rebuilding of the bridge will take years.

Deenadayalan entered into a “deferred prosecution agreement” with the U.S. Attorney’s Office, the federal equivalent of a probation before judgment. Should he comply with the terms of the agreement and his supervised release, prosecutors agreed they will drop his case three years from now.

The agreement could involve cooperating in the criminal case against his employer. But that’s unknown, because that portion of the proceeding was sealed from the public.

Synergy Marine Private Limited and Synergy Maritime Private Limited were indicted by a federal grand jury this year on charges of conspiracy, obstruction and misconduct resulting in death. An employee, technical superintendent Radhakrishnan Karthik Nair, was also charged, though he is believed to be in India and experts say it’s unclear if he will be brought here to face trial.

Deenadayalan signed a “statement of facts,” which U.S. District Judge James Bredar said was “quite powerful in its significance,” though he did not allow Assistant U.S. Attorney Matthew Phelps to read it aloud in court and it did not immediately appear on the court docket.

Gregg Bernstein, one of Deenadayalan’s defense attorneys, emphasized in court that the engineer was not pleading guilty, and he and his client declined to comment after the hearing concluded.

The U.S. Department of Justice has said the tragedy could have been averted if Synergy Marine had responsibly maintained the ship’s generators. Instead, prosecutors said, the company improperly used what are known as flushing pumps.

Deenadayalan faced a maximum possible penalty of six years in prison and three years of supervised release if convicted of the ports and waterways violation.

He has been among the seafarers stuck in Baltimore since the 2024 crash. It’s unclear whether he will be allowed to leave — his conditions of release say only that he must seek approval from the court’s pretrial services division.