The FBI is advising a ship managed by the firm that operated the vessel accused of the bridge collapse

Federal agents on Saturday boarded a vessel operated by the same company as a cargo ship that caused the deadly collapse of the Baltimore Bridge, the FBI confirmed.

In statements, spokespeople for the FBI and the US Attorney’s Office in Maryland confirmed that authorities had boarded the Maersk Saltoro. The vessel is managed by Synergy Marine Group.

“The Federal Bureau of Investigation, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Division of Criminal Investigation and the Coast Guard Investigative Services are present aboard the Maersk Saltoro conducting court-authorized law enforcement activities,” FBI statements said Saturday morning. and the US Attorney’s Office.

Authorities did not provide additional details. The Washington Post first reported on federal authorities boarding the ship.

The raid came months after investigators conducted a similar search for the Dali, the freighter that crashed into the bridge.

In a lawsuit filed Wednesday, the U.S. Justice Department alleged that Dali’s owner, Grace Ocean Private Ltd., and manager Synergy Marine, both of Singapore, recklessly cut and ignored known electrical problems on the vessel, which lost power several times minutes before crashing into a support column on the Francis Scott Key Bridge in March.

The Justice Department said mechanical and electrical systems on the massive ship were “jury-rigged” and poorly maintained, culminating in power outages and a cascade of other failures that left the pilots and crew helpless in the face of the disaster that looms. The ship was en route from Baltimore to Sri Lanka when steering failed due to loss of power.

Six members of a roadworks crew died when the bridge collapsed into the water. The collapse also snarled commercial shipping traffic through the Port of Baltimore for months before the canal was fully reopened in June.

The Justice Department is trying to recoup more than $100 million the government spent to clean up underwater debris and reopen the city’s harbor.

Limitation of liability

The companies filed a petition in court days after the collapse, seeking to limit their legal liability in what could become the costliest maritime accident case in history. Justice Department officials said there was no legal support for this offer of limitation of liability and vowed to vigorously challenge it.

In its lawsuit, which also seeks punitive damages, the Justice Department argued that ship owners and operators must be “deterred from engaging in such reckless and highly harmful conduct.”

That includes Grace Ocean and Synergy themselves, as the Dali has a “sister ship,” authorities wrote in the statement.

The two companies “must be deterred because they continue to operate their vessels, including a sister vessel to the Dali, in US waters and benefit economically from these activities,” the suit says.

Darrell Wilson, a spokesman for Grace Ocean, confirmed that the FBI and Coast Guard boarded the Maersk Saltoro in the Port of Baltimore on Saturday morning. Wilson previously said the owner and manager “look forward to our day in court to clear things up.”

Like the Dali, the Singapore-flagged Saltoro was built by Hyundai in 2015.

Major issues

According to the Justice Department lawsuit, major problems with the Dali’s electrical system could result from excessive vibrations on the ship, which can loosen wires and damage connections. A previous captain of the vessel reported “strong vibrations” in his May 2023 handover notes, saying he had made similar reports to Synergy in the past, according to the complaint.

The trial found equipment cracked in the engine room and pieces of cargo shook. The ship’s electrical equipment was in such poor condition that an independent agency halted further electrical tests because of safety concerns, according to the lawsuit.

The ship also suffered power outages while still docked in Baltimore. Those blackouts are considered “reportable marine casualties” that must be reported to the U.S. Coast Guard, which authorities say never happened.

The Dali, which was stuck amid the wreckage of the crash for months before it could be extricated and restarted, left Norfolk, Va., on Thursday afternoon en route to China in his first international trip since the March 26 disaster .

Justice Department officials declined to answer questions Wednesday about whether a criminal investigation into the bridge collapse remains ongoing. FBI agents boarded the Dali in April.

Mattise reported from Nashville, Tennessee.

Top photo: The collapsed Francis Scott Key Bridge rests on top of the container ship Dali, Monday, April 15, 2024, in Baltimore. The FBI confirmed that there were agents on board the Dali ship conducting court-authorized law enforcement activities. (AP Photo/Julia Nikhinson)

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