Maryland authorities say it will cost more than $5.2bn to rebuild bridge with completion envisioned in 2030
\n Maryland
\nA 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.
\nSynergy 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.
\nAn 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.
\nUS Attorney Kelly Hayes said Nair is not in custody and is believed to be in India.
\nThe 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.
\nSix construction workers on the bridge, all Latin American immigrants, fell to their deaths.
\nThe 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.
\n\u201cThe collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge was a preventable tragedy of enormous consequence,\u201d acting Attorney General Todd Blanche said in a statement. \u201cThis indictment is a critical step toward holding accountable those whose reckless disregard for maritime safety regulations caused this disaster.\u201d
\nFBI special agent Jimmy Paul said the indictment \u201creveals 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.\u201d
\n\u201cSynergy and Radhakrishnan Karthik Nair repeatedly failed to document, investigate and report significant safety risks and hazards aboard the Dali,\u201d Paul said. \u201cThey forged safety inspections and certifications.
\n\u201cThey falsely claimed the ship was in good working order and then lied to investigators about their actions when they were questioned.\u201d
\nThe US Justice Department announced in October 2024 that it had reached a $100 million settlement with Singapore\u2019s 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.
\nMaryland authorities have said it will cost more than $5.2 billion to rebuild the bridge with completion envisioned in 2030.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Maryland authorities say it will cost more than $5.2bn to rebuild bridge with completion envisioned in 2030 Maryland 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. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":546183,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-546163","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n