Baltimore ship crash: US files criminal case against Chennai, Singapore firms and Indian citizen

The United States Department of Justice on Tuesday filed a criminal case against two firms based in Chennai and Singapore, and an Indian citizen, in connection with a cargo ship colliding with a bridge in Baltimore in March 2024.

Six repairmen working on the Francis Scott Key Bridge had been killed when the structure collapsed into the Patapsco River after it was struck by the vessel Dali.

The Singapore-flagged ship was on its way to Colombo from Baltimore. The entire 22-member crew of the vessel were Indians and had not been injured.

The companies, Synergy Marine of Singapore and Synergy Maritime of Chennai, and the person, Radhakrishnan Karthik Nair, have been charged with conspiracy, wilfully failing to immediately inform the US Coast Guard of a known hazardous condition, obstructing the proceedings of an agency and providing false statements.

Nair worked for both firms as the vessel's technical superintendent.

The two companies and the Indian citizen were also charged for polluting the river with the cargo the ship was carrying.

The indictment alleges that the accident caused an economic loss of at least $5 billion.

The ship lost power twice within four minutes as it navigated out of the Baltimore port, causing it to crash into the bridge, according to the indictment.

The document said that the defendants had allegedly...

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