US DOJ files criminal charges in deadly Dali accident, Baltimore bridge collapse, as state finalises civil suit

On the same day that the US state of Maryland’s Attorney General announced a final settlement agreement of US$2.25Bn in its civil lawsuit against Dali shipowners Grace Ocean Private Ltd and ship operators Synergy Marine, the US DOJ has brought federal criminal charges against Synergy Group and one of its technical superintendents. 

The criminal indictment unsealed by a grand jury in the US District Court of Maryland alleges that the economic loss from the incident in which the container ship hit Baltimore’s Francis Scott Key interstate bridge, collapsing the bridge and killing six highway workers who were on it at the time, is at least US$5Bn. Reports have cited Maryland officials as saying the completion of the rebuilt bridge is anticipated in late 2030.

The 18 counts in the indictment brought charges against Synergy Marine Group companies Synergy Marine, based in Singapore, and Synergy Maritime, based in Chennai, India, along with an Indian national, Radhakrishnan Karthik Nair, who worked for both subsidiary companies as the Technical Superintendent for Dali. 

The charges against the three defendants included conspiracy, misconduct or neglect of ship officers resulting in death and obstruction and violations of the ports and waterways safety act, among others, according to US district attorney for Maryland Kelly Hayes, and followed a two-year investigation by the FBI, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and the US Coast Guard (USCG).

“The collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge was a preventable tragedy of enormous consequence,” Acting US Attorney General Todd Blanche said. “This indictment is a critical step toward holding accountable those whose reckless disregard for maritime safety regulations caused this disaster. Six construction workers lost their lives, critical infrastructure was destroyed, pollutants were released into the Patapsco River and Chesapeake Bay, and the economic damage now exceeds five billion dollars. This department is committed to securing justice for the victims and ensuring those responsible are held to account.”

According to the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) special agent in charge of the criminal investigation into the Dali incident, Jimmy Paul, the indictment "reveals 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". 

The investigation and indictments focus heavily on use of a ’flushing pump’ instead of ’proper fuel supply pumps’ in attempts by crew to restart the vessel before it struck the bridge. 

"Critical systems on the Dali were originally designed with reliable redundancies and automatic restart capabilities, so the Dali could quickly regain power after a blackout. But shortly after the vessel regained power, it lost power again. According to the indictment, the defendants allegedly altered the ship and relied on a flushing pump to supply fuel to two of the Dali’s four generators. However, the flushing pump was not designed to automatically restart following a blackout, and the Dali’s generators could not operate without a fuel supply, so the ship ultimately experienced a second blackout. The indictment alleges that if the Dali used the proper fuel supply pumps, the vessel would have regained power in time to safely navigate under the Key Bridge," the DOJ said.

Synergy and technical superintendent, Mr Nair, have been charged with obstruction of an agency proceeding and providing false statements and documents to the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) as it conducted a casualty investigation. According to the DOJ statement, the obstruction charges relate to, among other things, Nair’s statements to the NTSB that he was unaware that the Dali was using the flushing pump to provide fuel to the generators.

The defendants are also charged with willfully failing to immediately inform the US Coast Guard of a known hazardous condition.

Synergy Marine Group posted a response to the charges on its website, in which the company said it was "surprised and disappointed" about the charges, calling the allegations in the indictment "baseless".

"DOJ is criminalising a tragic accident," the company said.

In particular, Synergy Group took issue with the DOJ’s focus on how the vessel was operated, saying the DOJ’s case "runs contrary to the conclusions reached by the US National Transportation Safety Board" in its statement.

"This was a maritime casualty that should be assessed through the full factual, technical and regulatory record, rather than through selective mischaracterisations in a criminal indictment," Synergy said.

NTSB report finds ’loose wire’ the cause of Dali allision with Francis Scott Key interstate highway bridge

In the early hours of 26 March, 2024, Dali left the Port of Baltimore bound for Sri Lanka and lost power while navigating through the Fort McHenry Channel, a deepwater route that leads from the port to the Chesapeake Bay.

Initially, the ship was able to broadcast a mayday call and regain power, but it soon lost power again before striking the Francis Scott Key bridge. The major interstate highway bridge collapsed seconds later, killing six construction workers. 

The wreck of Dali and the remnants of the bridge obstructed the navigable channel and brought all shipping into and out of the Port of Baltimore to a standstill. 

NTSB investigators spent more than a year and a half investigating the incident and piecing together a detailed accident report in which they found that a single loose wire caused power outages on board the 9,962-TEU container ship Dali that led to the allision with and the eventual collapse of Baltimore’s Francis Scott Key bridge. 

During a public meeting on the findings of the investigation into the incident, NTSB investigators said the loose wire in the ship’s electrical system caused a breaker to unexpectedly open. Investigators found that "wire-label banding prevented the wire from being fully inserted into a terminal block spring-clamp gate, causing an inadequate connection".

NTSB chairwoman Jennifer Homendy said her team had accomplished ’the impossible’ in isolating the single wire that caused the blackout on board Dali. She likened the effort to "hunting for a loose rivet on the Eiffel Tower," which is around the same height as the container ship’s 330-m length. 

The loose connection caused "a sequence of events that led to two vessel blackouts and a loss of both propulsion and steering near the 3.8-km Key Bridge" while heading away from the US’ East Coast container shipping hub of Baltimore. 

"After the initial blackout... Dali’s heading began swinging to starboard toward Pier 17 of the Key Bridge," the NTSB report said, noting that although "the pilots and the bridge team attempted to change the vessel’s trajectory... the loss of propulsion so close to the bridge rendered their actions ineffective."

A long stretch of the bridge collapsed into the river, and sections of the pier, deck and truss spans collapsed onto the vessel’s bow and forward-most container bays.

Continuation of other lawsuits related to the incident

While it has finalised its civil lawsuit with Dali’s owners and operators, Maryland said it is continuing to pursue claims against the shipbuilder, Hyundai Heavy Industries, that built Dali.

As Maryland’s attorney general’s office said in a statement, "The National Transportation Safety Board, in its final report issued in November 2025, found Hyundai Heavy Industries to be at fault in causing the M/V Dali’s loss of power and its allision with the Francis Scott Key Bridge."

Synergy Group referred to the NTSB’s findings of the cause of Dali’s power loss as "due to a manufacturer’s latent defect".

Reports suggest that shipowner Grace Ocean and ship manager Synergy are proceeding with claims of a right to limit their liability in the incident to the value of the vessel and its cargo, which was stipulated as US$43.7M following the incident, with Insurance Journal reporting in April 2026 that both Grace Ocean and Synergy Group are entitled to stand trial on their right to limited liability in the case under the 1851 maritime law. Riviera contacted representatives for both companies, and neither company had a comment on the case.

In October 2024, the US Department of Justice (DOJ) agreed a settlement to recoup US$103M in costs incurred for its work to clear debris and restore access to the major shipping channel leading to Baltimore’s port.

And claims for wrongful death in the incident are reportedly ongoing, with some claimants apparently in settlement discussions.