FBI Boards Ship Managed by Company Linked to Baltimore Bridge Collapse

Federal agents have boarded a vessel managed by the same company responsible for the containership that struck the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore back in March, killing six people and causing the bridge to collapse.

The Maersk Saltoro, managed by Synergy Marine Group, was boarded by the FBI, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Criminal Investigation Division, and Coast Guard Investigative Services in the Port of Baltimore on Saturday morning while conducting “court authorized law enforcement activity,” the FBI said in a statement.

This action follows a civil claim filed this week by the Justice Department against Grace Ocean Private Limited and Synergy Marine Private Limited, the Singapore-based owner and manager of M/V Dali, respectively. The suit seeks to recover over $100 million in costs incurred by the United States in responding to the disaster.

The M/V Dali collided with the Francis Scott Key Bridge as it departed the Port of Baltimore for Sri Lanka in the early hours of March 26, 2024. While navigating the Fort McHenry Channel, the vessel experienced a series of power failures—losing power, briefly regaining it, then losing it again—before ultimately striking the bridge, killing six people and disrupting shipping into and out of the Port of Baltimore for months.

The suit alleges that the bridge collapse was an “entirely avoidable.”

“This accident happened because of the careless and grossly negligent decisions made by Grace Ocean and Synergy, who recklessly chose to send an unseaworthy vessel to navigate a critical waterway and ignored the risks to American lives and the nation’s infrastructure,” according to Acting Deputy Assistant Attorney General Chetan Patil of the Civil Division.

“The Justice Department is committed to ensuring accountability for those responsible for the destruction of the Francis Scott Key Bridge, which resulted in the tragic deaths of six people and disrupted our country’s transportation and defense infrastructure,” Attorney General Merrick B. Garland said in a statement announcing the civil suit.

The lawsuit claims that the vessel’s owner and operator were aware of vibration issues that could cause power outages but failed to take necessary precautions. Principal Deputy Associate Attorney General Benjamin C. Mizer explained, “Out of negligence, mismanagement, and, at times, a desire to cut costs, they configured the ship’s electrical and mechanical systems in a way that prevented those systems from being able to quickly restore propulsion and steering after a power outage.”

The boarding of the Maersk Saltoro coincides with the Dali’s departure from the Port of Virginia on Thursday, bound for China. The Dali had arrived at the Port of Virginia in late June for repairs.

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