News / Box ship manager denies negligence as DoJ probes Baltimore bridge tragedy

Photo: BCDF Rescue Team 1

Singapore-based ship management company Synergy Marine claims it has been cleared of any wrongdoing when the containership Dali hit Baltimore’s Francis Scott Key Bridge in 2024.

And it says it will defend itself “strenuously” against a US Justice Department (DoJ) accusation of negligence.

The DOJ yesterday indicted Synergy Marine and the ship’s technical superintendent, Radhakrishnan Karthik Nair, for negligence that caused the accident, resulting in the bridge collapsing, killing six construction workers.

Synergy Marine told The Loadstar the US National Transportation Safety Board’s (NTSB) last November found loose wiring, caused by a misapplied label, was the likely cause of blackouts on the Dali shortly after it set out from Baltimore for Sri Lanka.

The electrical failure led to a loss of steering and propulsion on the Maersk-chartered 10,000 teu ship, which then slammed into the bridge.

Synergy Marine said: “Both the NTSB and well-respected maritime experts have conclusively determined that the accident was inevitable, due to the loose wire, and in no way attributable to Synergy’s operation of the vessel.”

In deciding the indictment, acting US attorney general Todd Blanche called the incident a “preventable tragedy of enormous consequence”.

The DoJ claimed that had Dali’s crew used proper fuel pumps to restore power, the ship would have sailed safely under the bridge.

Synergy Marine says the department has criminalised the accident.

“The NTSB’s factual reports do not indicate that the probable cause of the allision was because the Dali was out of compliance with any code, law, regulation, or rule governing its operation, or with the builder’s recommendations, at the time of the allision. The Dali, and other vessels managed by Synergy, also had a near-flawless Port State Control record in the US.

“Synergy will vigorously defend itself against these inaccurate allegations. Synergy and its employees have fully cooperated and have been transparent at all times during the NTSB’s investigation, and any allegations to the contrary are woefully inaccurate. We’re confident that the DoJ cannot and will not meet its burden of proof, and that we will prevail at trial.”

Meanwhile, the Dali’s Singapore-based owner, Grace Ocean, is suing vessel builder HD Hyundai Heavy Industries, alleging that defective construction had resulted in the loose wire.