FBI agents board vessel managed by company whose other ship collapsed Baltimore bridge
Federal agents have boarded a vessel managed by the same company as a cargo ship that caused the deadly Baltimore bridge collapse, the FBI has confirmed.
In statements Saturday, spokespeople for the FBI and the US Attorney’s Office in Maryland confirmed that authorities have boarded the Maersk Saltoro. The ship is managed by Synergy Marine Group.
“The Federal Bureau of Investigation, US Environmental Protection Agency’s Criminal Investigation Division and Coast Guard Investigative Services are present aboard the Maersk Saltoro conducting court authorized law enforcement activity,” statements from the FBI and U.S. Attorney’s Office said.
Authorities did not offer further specifics.
In a lawsuit Wednesday, the US Justice Department has alleged that Dali owner Grace Ocean Private Ltd. and manager Synergy Marine Group, both of Singapore, recklessly cut corners and ignored known electrical problems on the vessel that had a power outage moments before it crashed into a support column on the Francis Scott Key Bridge in March.
The Justice Department is seeking to recover more than $100 million the government spent to clear the underwater debris and reopen the city’s port. It called the disaster “entirely avoidable.”
Darrell Wilson, a Grace Ocean spokesperson, did not immediately respond to a request for comment about agents boarding the Maersk Saltoro. He has previously said the owner and manager “look forward to our day in court to set the record straight” about the Justice Department’s lawsuit.
Wednesday’s lawsuit is the federal government’s first enforcement action after the Dali, a nearly 1,000-foot-long, 213-million-pound container ship, struck a crucial support column the Key Bridge could not stand without. The collapse killed six overnight immigrant laborers who were fixing potholes on the bridge.
CNN’s Hannah Rabinowitz contributed to this report.
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