Synergy Marine Charged in Federal Probe of 2024 Baltimore Bridge Collapse

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.

CBS News reported that the charges mark the first criminal charges in connection with the MV Dali crash. The MV Dali lost power and slammed into Baltimore's Francis Scott Key Bridge on March 26, 2024 while heading out to sea from the Port of Baltimore early that morning. Six highway construction workers died in the collision.

A project to replace the Francis Scott Key Bridge is expected to cost billions of dollars and take until the end of the decade. Federal prosecutors allege the defendants 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. 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.

The loose wire caused the Dali's main engine to shut down because the pumps that supplied water to cool the engine turned off. The ship's steering system was briefly offline. The crew restored power quickly after the first outage.

The Dali then faced a second blackout that the NTSB blamed in part on the flushing pump. The flushing pump was designed to clear fuel out of piping for maintenance. The flushing pump did not have redundancies and could not restart automatically after an outage.

The NTSB called the use of the flushing pump inappropriate. The flushing pump had been used for months leading up to the crash. Synergy managers were unaware that the flushing pump on the Dali was being used as a service pump.

An unnamed technical manager said it would not be acceptable to use the flushing pump as the generators' fuel source. Beyond the criminal charges, Synergy and Grace Ocean Private Limited settled with the Justice Department for more than $100 million in 2024. Synergy and Grace Ocean struck a settlement with the state of Maryland in April 2026.

Other claims against Synergy and Grace Ocean are expected to go to trial in June 2026. Synergy and Grace Ocean deny negligence and argue that their liability is limited to the value of the ship and its contents.