By Holmes Lybrand, CNN
(CNN) — Two years after a container ship rammed into and collapsed Baltimore’s Francis Scott Key Bridge, the Justice Department has announced criminal charges against two companies and the ship’s technical superintendent.
The crash killed six highway workers and cut off traffic to one of the US’ largest shipping ports, officials said, adding it will cost billions to rebuild the bridge.
Synergy Marine Pte Ltd, based in Singapore, and Synergy Maritime Pte Ltd, based in Chennai, India, along with Radhakrishnan Karthik Nair, 47, who worked for both companies as the technical superintendent for the “Dali,” are charged with conspiracy, willfully failing to immediately inform the Coast Guard of a known hazardous condition, obstruction of an agency proceeding, and false statements.
“The government’s investigation also found that Synergy employees, including its shore side technical managers, fabricated and directed the fabrication of safety inspections and certifications related to vessel systems,” US Attorney Kelly O. Hayes for the District of Maryland said at a press conference in Baltimore Tuesday. She said investigators believe Nair, who is an Indian national, is in India.
“We are going to enforce and use all our available law enforcement tools” to try and get him, Hayes said.
Following the crash, the FBI and US Coast Guard opened a criminal investigation. Several members of the crew, who were not US citizens, were told to remain in the country as the investigation continued.
In December of last year, the National Transportation Safety Board issued its final report on the incident, which concluded that a wire label had slid over a covering keeping that wire from establishing a proper connection with the circuit breaker.
This caused power outages on the ship, the Dali, as it was leaving the port of Baltimore. Despite the crew’s failed efforts to “recover propulsion from the loss of electrical power,” the report says, the Dali careened into the bridge minutes later.
In November, NTSB Chair Jennifer Homendy said finding the loose wire in a ship the size of the Dali would be like finding a loose bolt in the Eiffel Tower.
The NTSB report also found the bridge had significant structural risk never evaluated by the Maryland Transportation Authority.
According to the indictment, the defendants allegedly altered the ship and relied on a flushing pump to supply fuel to two of the Dali’s four generators. The flushing pump was not designed to automatically restart following a blackout, and the Dali’s generators could not operate without a fuel supply, so the ship ultimately experienced a second blackout, the Justice Department says.
The Justice Department said that if the ship had not been relying on the flushing pump, power would have been restored, preventing the crash.
The obstruction charge stems from Nair telling officials he was unaware the ship was using the flushing pump, according to the indictment.
Special Agent in Charge of the FBI Baltimore Field Office Jimmy Paul said the bridge was struck “because those who were responsible for the ship’s operation deliberately cut corners to the expense of safety.”
“The indictment shows that Synergy and (Nair) repeatedly failed to document, investigate and report significant safety risk and hazards aboard the Dali,” Paul said. “They forged safety inspections and certifications. They falsely claimed the ship was in good working order and then lied to investigators about their actions when there was question.”
A bench trial is set for June 1 in a separate, civil case against the ship’s owner and operator by the city of Baltimore and others as the companies look to limit their liability in the crash.
The Justice Department an