BALTIMORE — Federal agents boarded a ship Saturday operated by the same company as the cargo ship that caused the deadly collapse of the Baltimore bridge, the FBI confirmed.
Spokespeople for the FBI and the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Maryland confirmed in statements that authorities had seized the Maersk Saltoro, a ship operated by Synergy Marine Group.
“The FBI, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Criminal Investigation Division and the Coast Guard Investigation Services are present on board the Maersk Saltoro and are conducting court-authorized law enforcement activities,” statements from the FBI and the U.S. Attorney’s Office said.
Authorities did not provide further details.
In a lawsuit filed Wednesday, the U.S. Justice Department alleged that Dali’s owner, Grace Ocean Private Ltd., and manager Synergy Marine Group, both of Singapore, recklessly cut corners and ignored known electrical problems on the vessel that suffered a power outage moments before crashing into a support column of the Francis Scott Key Bridge in March.
The Justice Department says the massive ship’s mechanical and electrical systems were “tinkered with” and poorly maintained, leading to a power outage moments before the ship crashed into the bridge. Six construction workers were killed when the bridge collapsed into the water.
The collapse also paralyzed commercial shipping traffic in the Port of Baltimore for months before the canal was fully reopened in June.
The ship was leaving Baltimore for Sri Lanka when its steering failed due to a loss of power.
The Justice Department is seeking to recover more than $100 million the government spent to clean up underwater debris and reopen the city’s port.
Days after the collapse, the two companies filed a lawsuit seeking to limit their legal liability in what could become the most expensive maritime disaster in history. Justice Department officials said there was no legal basis for the attempt to limit liability and vowed to vigorously challenge it.
In its complaint, the Justice Department argued that ship owners and operators must be “deterred from engaging in such reckless and extremely dangerous behavior.”
This includes the Grace Ocean and Synergy themselves, as the Dali has a “sister ship,” authorities wrote.
Both companies “must be deterred because they continue to operate their vessels, including a sister ship to the Dali, in U.S. waters and benefit economically from those activities,” the complaint says.
Grace Ocean spokesman Darrell Wilson confirmed that the FBI and Coast Guard boarded the Maersk Saltoro in the Port of Baltimore Saturday morning.
Wilson previously said the owner and manager “look forward to our day in court to set the record straight” regarding the Justice Department lawsuit.
The Dali, which had been stuck in the rubble for months before it could be pulled out and refloated, left Norfolk, Virginia, on Thursday afternoon, en route to China on its first international voyage since the March 26 disaster.
Justice Department officials declined to answer questions Wednesday about whether a criminal investigation into the bridge collapse was still ongoing. FBI agents boarded the Dali in April.
Mattise reported from Nashville, Tennessee.
Originally published:
