Not guilty plea entered by operators in Key Bridge collapse case
Attorneys representing the operators of the ship that struck Baltimore's Key Bridge pleaded not guilty Friday to all counts in a criminal case brought by federal prosecutors against the companies.
The U.S. Attorney's office confirmed the not guilty plea to all counts in the indictment connected with the deadly collapse of the bridge in March 2024. The companies entering the plea were Synergy Marine Group and Synergy Maritime.
An investigation found that the container ship Dali lost power twice in just four minutes before hitting the Key Bridge. The collapse of the bridge killed six construction workers.
Federal indictment included multiple allegations
In May, federal prosecutors charged both companies, along with the 47-year-old man who was the Dali's superintendent, with conspiracy, obstruction, and making false statement to investigators.
In June, federal prosecutors filed additional criminal charges in the deadly 2024 Francis Scott Key Bridge collapse. The chief engineer of the Dali was charged with violations of the Port and Waterways Safety Act. Karthikeyan Deenadayalan is accused of knowingly and willfully failing to notify the U.S. Coast Guard about hazardous conditions on the ship
The federal indictment charged Synergy Marine's Singapore- and India-based operations with conspiracy to defraud the United States, failing to inform the U.S. Coast Guard of a known hazardous condition, misconduct or neglect by ship officers causing death, false statements and obstructing an agency proceeding.
Pump failures blamed for power outages
Federal prosecutors allege the defendants improperly used a "flushing pump" to supply diesel to two of the Dali's generators, rather than normal fuel supply pumps that have redundancies and can automatically restart. That pump's failure has been blamed for the second of two power outages in the moments leading up to the collision.
Kelly Hayes, the U.S. attorney for the District of Maryland, said at the time it was announced that the indictment alleged "that if the Dali had been using the proper fuel supply pumps, then the vessel would have regained power in time to safely navigate under the Key Bridge."
Settlement with familes
In May, families of the victims of the Key Bridge collapse settled with the owners and operators of the Dali container ship. Terms of the settlement were not disclosed.
Attorneys representing four of the men who died and one survivor of the collapse said the settlement resolved "all the claims against the owners and operators of the M/V Dali."