The Dali container ship’s chief engineer is accused of failing to warn the U.S. Coast Guard about dangerous conditions on board.
Read more World Cup what to know: Argentina’s Lionel Messi kicks off expected last hurrah against Algeria
The chief engineer aboard the Dali container ship when it destroyed Baltimore’s Francis Scott Key Bridge, killing six people, was criminally charged Monday in Maryland federal court.
The Justice Department alleged in court documents that Karthikeyan Deenadayalan, who served as chief engineer in the weeks leading up to the deadly crash, failed to notify the U.S. Coast Guard of “hazardous conditions” aboard the ship before it left the Port of Baltimore in March 2024.
Soon after departure, the Dali experienced two blackouts on the Patapsco River, lost power steering control and careened into a critical support pillar for the bridge — causing the entire span to collapse and killing six men who were filling potholes on the roadway.
Deenadayalan faces one count of violating the Ports and Waterways Safety Act. Prosecutors filed a criminal information in U.S. District Court in Baltimore, a type of charging document that is used when a defendant waives indictment and typically signals an intent to plead guilty. No plea agreement is final until accepted by a judge.
It’s not clear what the details are of Deenadayalan’s deal with federal prosecutors, but in a letter to the court on Monday, Kelly O. Hayes, the U.S. attorney for Maryland, wrote that the defendant and government have entered into a Deferred Prosecution Agreement.
Attorneys for Deenadayalan said he has been in the United States since the collapse. They declined to comment further. The U.S. attorney’s office in Maryland also declined to comment.
The new charge, filed in U.S. District Court in Baltimore, comes a month after the Justice Department announced an indictment in its criminal investigation into the deadly collapse.
In that indictment, federal investigators alleged that the Dali’s operator, Synergy Marine Group, and technical supervisor, Radhakrishnan Karthik Nair, violated maritime and environmental laws by failing to maintain proper systems aboard the massive ship.
Read more Jackson Koivun is back in the US Open in his last tournament as an amateur
Prosecutors alleged that Synergy Marine Group knew the ship’s crew was using improper fuel pumps on the Dali and others in their fleet, but did not halt the practice. Those improper fuel pumps were responsible for crippling the Dali’s ability to restore steering power in the moments before the crash.
The indictment also alleges that the company and Nair lied to investigators with the FBI and National Transportation Safety Board after the crash and falsified safety inspection records.
Synergy Marine Group and Nair face charges including counts of conspiracy; misconduct or neglect of ship officers resulting in death; violations of the Clean Water Act and Ports and Waterways Safety Act; and obstruction of an agency proceeding.
The three-page criminal complaint filed against Deenadayalan alleges he should have notified the U.S. Coast Guard about the improper fuel pumps before the ship left port.
A hearing in the case against Synergy Marine Group and Nair is scheduled for June 16 before U.S. District Judge James K. Bredar, who is also overseeing a sprawling civil trial related to the bridge collapse. In that case, the Synergy Marine Group and the Dali’s owner, Grace Ocean Private Limited, asked the court to significantly limit their potential financial liability because, they’ve argued in court documents, they were not negligent in the crash.
But those who sued them — alleging personal injury and economic loss — claimed Synergy Marine and Grace Ocean knew the Dali was not safe or seaworthy and allowed it to leave port anyway.
The companies have already paid far more than their $43.6 million requested cap, settling in recent months with most of the people and entities that sued them — including the two survivors and relatives of the six men who died.
The start of that trial has been delayed indefinitely while the court weighs legal arguments from the remaining claimants and the ship’s attorneys.
Read more 40-year-old Cape Verde goalkeeper Vozinha turns in a spectacular performance in his World Cup debut
