U.S. federal prosecutors have filed criminal charges against the owner of the Dali cargo ship, which struck Baltimore’s Francis Scott Key Bridge in 2024, killing six people and collapsing the span.
BBC News reports that the Department of Justice’s charges against the ship’s operator Synergy Marine include conspiracy, obstruction and misconduct resulting in death. In its indictment filed on May 12, the DOJ accused Synergy of misleading investigators regarding the conditions of the ship, and failing to disclose safety concerns to the U.S. Coast Guard. Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche also called the collapse of the bridge “a preventable tragedy of enormous consequence.”
“This indictment is a critical step toward holding accountable those whose reckless disregard for maritime safety regulations caused this disaster,” he said.
In a statement to BBC News, a spokesperson for Synergy Marine labeled the DOJ’s allegations as “baseless,” and accused the department of “criminalizing a tragic accident.” Synergy had previously been ordered to pay the U.S. government $100 million in damages in October 2024, to cover the costs incurred from responding to and clearing the wreckage of the bridge.
In its investigation of the crash, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) found that a loose wire aboard the Dali had caused the vessel to lose power twice before it collided with the bridge. The NTSB also identified issues with the ship’s fuel pump, as well as a lack of countermeasures built into the Key Bridge that could have saved it from collapsing.
