United States v. Synergy Marine Pte Ltd., et al.

On May 12, 2026, a court unsealed an 18-count indictment charging two companies and one individual. The charges stem from the March 26, 2024, crash of the Motor Vessel Dali into the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore, Maryland, which caused the death of six individuals and the destruction of the bridge.

Synergy Marine Pte Ltd, based in Singapore, and Synergy Maritime Pte Ltd, based in Chennai, India, are charged in the indictment, along with Radhakrishnan Karthik Nair. Nair is an Indian national who worked for both companies as the Technical Superintendent for the Dali.

According to the indictment, the Dali lost power twice in a four-minute span as it navigated out to sea from the Port of Baltimore, causing it to crash into the Key Bridge. The indictment alleges that a loose wire in a high-voltage switchboard likely caused the first power loss. Critical systems on the Dali were originally designed with reliable redundancies and automatic restart capabilities so the Dali could quickly regain power after a blackout. But shortly after the vessel regained power, it lost power again. The investigation determined that the defendants altered the Dali and relied on a flushing pump to supply fuel to two of the vessel’s four generators. However, the flushing pump was not designed to automatically restart following a blackout, and the  generators could not operate without a fuel supply, so the ship ultimately experienced a second blackout. The indictment alleges that if the Dali used the proper fuel supply pumps, the vessel would have regained power in time to safely navigate under the Key Bridge.

The charges include conspiracy, willfully failing to immediately inform the U.S. Coast Guard of a known hazardous condition, obstruction of an agency proceeding, and false statements. The two Synergy corporations are also charged with misdemeanor violations of the Clean Water Act, Oil Pollution Act, and the Refuse Act for the discharge of pollutants into the Patapsco River, including shipping containers and their contents, oil, and the bridge itself (18 U.S.C. § 371; 46 U.S.C. § 70036 (Ports & Waterways Safety Act – Failure to Report a Hazardous Condition); 18 U.S.C. § 1115 (Misconduct or Neglect of Ship Officers Resulting in Death); 18 U.S.C. § 1505 (Obstruction of an Agency Proceeding); 18 U.S.C. § 1001 (False Statements); 33 U.S.C. §§ 1311, 1319 and 1321 (Clean Water Act – Discharge of Pollutants, Oil Pollution Act – Discharge of a Harmful Quantity of Oil); and 33 U.S.C. §§ 407 and 411 (Refuse Act)). 

The Federal Bureau of Investigation, the U.S. Coast Guard Investigative Service, and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Criminal Investigation Division conducted the investigation.