Lawyers for Key Bridge collapse victims blast Dali operator for alleged cover-up revealed in federal indictment
Lawyers representing four of the six men who died in the 2024 collapse of Baltimore's Key Bridge expressed outrage over the alleged misconduct of Synergy Marine and "cautious happiness" that criminal charges have been filed in the case more than two years later.
The Department of Justice announced charges Tuesday against Synergy's India and Singapore-based operations, as well as against a shoreside technical superintendent.
Ready for trial
L. Chris Stewart's law firm represents not only the loved ones of four of the victims but also the sole survivor thrown from the bridge in the early morning hours of March 26, 2024.
"Will we get justice now? That's the common question that we get from our clients daily is when is justice coming?" Stewart told WJZ Investigator Mike Hellgren. "And I think that they know we're fighting the civil case hard. They know these companies are refusing to treat these families correctly, so we're fighting that. If we have to go to trial, we'll go to trial about it."
He also represents Julio Cervantes Suarez, who clung to a piece of steel in the water after escaping his work truck—an escape only possible because the truck had manual windows.
As WJZ Investigates has reported, the civil trial to determine the liability of Synergy Marine and the Dali cargo ship's owner, Grace Ocean, is set to begin June 1st in Baltimore.
Both have vigorously argued they should not be held liable for the full amount and claimed the tragedy was beyond their control.
Some of those arguments stem from a 1851 law enacted after the Titanic sank that limits liability to the value of the ship and its contents—roughly $44 million.
Lawyers will be presenting arguments before Judge James K. Bredar, who will decide the matter on his own, without a jury, at the June trial that is expected to last for 18 days.
"We are three weeks away from trial for the limitation of liability civil. Three weeks. So, this is a bombshell that came today," Stewart said.
A federal indictment accuses Synergy Marine of knowingly misleading federal investigators and falsifying records.
The investigation, named Last Twilight for the area's significance to the Star Spangled Banner, found Synergy Marine covered up its use of a manual flushing pump, which starved two of Dali's generators of fuel.
The U.S. Attorney in Maryland said that caused the Dali's second blackout and a collision course with the Key Bridge.
"The indictment alleges that had they been using the proper fuel supply pumps, then the vessel would have regained power in time to safely navigate under the Key Bridge," U.S. Attorney Kelly O. Hayes said.
Jimmy Paul, the special agent in charge of the FBI's Baltimore field office, told reporters Tuesday, "They falsely claimed the ship was in good working order and then lied to investigators about their actions when they were questioned."
Attorneys for the victims and other parties suing Synergy revealed last week the captain of the Dali pleaded the Fifth during "6 hours and 300 pages of questioning" in depositions.
Kevin Mahoney, a lawyer representing some of those fighting the Dali's owner and operator, told Judge James K. Bredar at a pre-trial hearing, "Basically, the entire engine control room from the chief engineer down to the oiler would not testify."
Radhakrishnan Karthik Nair, Dali's technical superintendent, is being charged individually. The indictment alleges he lied to the NTSB.
Nair remains in India with the U.S. attorney pursuing an extradition to Maryland.
"We previously read testimony or interview transcripts that we did not believe were credible, but the willfulness behind the fraudulent misrepresentations, I think, is a new development, meaning intentionally misleading the NTSB, whose overall goal is to advance transportation safety," Mahoney told reporters shortly after the announcement of federal criminal charges.
Corporate distrust
The lawyers fighting Synergy praised the work of federal investigators who conducted almost 200 interviews and executed more than two dozen search warrants.
Stewart said, "It is heartbreaking not just for the victims' families, but for all of America to see what companies are doing behind the scenes. If the Department of Justice would not have found what was going on and brought these charges, we would never have seen the purposeful destruction of materials, the purposeful hiding of what really caused this tragedy."
He also told WJZ, "Anybody who purposely misled this country needs to be held responsible, and it's horrific seeing and reading about what is happening with the shipping industry in situations like this—taking place where there are dangerous vessels out there unbeknownst to the public."
Federal investigators said they found illegal flushing pumps on the Dali and two of its sister ships.
Stewart's colleague Daniel Rose spoke to the alleged dishonesty, "What these companies and what their employees have done with the flushing pump was improper and should never been done. Now, they've admitted it to us. They've admitted it through their criminal conduct, if proven, of defrauding not just the NTSB but the people of Baltimore and the people of the state of Maryland and most importantly the clients whose families we so honorably represent. They should never have gone through this tragic event."
Synergy responds
In a statement to CBS News, Synergy said it was "surprised and disappointed" by the charges, and accused the Justice Department of "criminalizing a tragic accident." The company claimed the "allegations are inconsistent with the clear and well-documented findings of the specialist maritime professionals involved in the NTSB investigation."
"The allegations in the indictment are baseless and have nothing to do with the Dali's allision with the Francis Scott Key Bridge," the statement said. "The DOJ's reference to the vessel's use of the flushing pump is wholly irrelevant to the cause of the allision and runs contrary to the conclusions reached by the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board following a comprehensive 20-month maritime accident investigation."
David Gerger, an attorney for Nair, said in a statement: "Once again, the government is trying to turn a tragic accident into a crime. Karthik thinks about this accident every day, but he certainly did not cause it."
What's next?
The United States will work to get Nair extradited to face justice, according to U.S. Attorney Hayes.
There will be one more pre-trial hearing ahead of the civil liability trial in June.
Lawyers representing the victims' families have said they are open to a settlement.
The state settled with the Dali's owner and operator for $2.25 billion, in an agreement announced Tuesday.
"The economic and human cost of this catastrophe have been borne every day by ordinary men and women, and most of all by the families of the six workers who were killed," said Adam Gustafson with the Department of Justice.
