FBI boards vessel managed by company whose ship caused Baltimore bridge collapse
Category: News & Politics
Via: perrie-halpern • 3 weeks ago • 0 commentsBy: Mirna Alsharif and Cristian Santana
The FBI boarded a vessel managed by the same company whose cargo ship caused the collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge, according to a statement published Saturday.
"The Federal Bureau of Investigation, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Criminal Investigation Division and Coast Guard Investigative Services are present aboard the Maersk Saltoro conducting court authorized law enforcement activity," the FBI said in a statement shared with NBC News. "We are unable to comment further."
NBC News has reached out to the owner of the vessel Grace Ocean Private Limited, and its operator, Synergy Marine Group, for comment.
NBC News has also reached out to the U.S. Attorney's Office in Maryland and the Coast Guard for comment. A spokesperson for the Environmental Protection Agency would not comment further on the matter.
The Dali, a cargo ship that struck a support pillar of the Francis Scott Key Bridge on March 26 causing it to snap, is owned and managed by the same companies, both of Singapore, according to The Associated Press. In a report, the National Transportation Safety Board said the 947-foot-long ship suffered a pair of power losses in the minutes before it struck the bridge, leaving it without propulsion to help steer away from one of the bridge's piers.
Six construction workers died when the bridge went crumbling down into the Patapsco River.
In a lawsuit filed Wednesday, the U.S. Justice Department alleged that Grace Ocean Private Limited and Synergy Marine Group cut corners and ignored electrical problems on the Dali ahead of it crashing into the Baltimore bridge, the AP reported.