Charges have been brought against two operating companies and one employee two years after the bridge collapse in Baltimore that claimed six lives.
Among the charges they face are conspiracy to defraud the United States, the Department of Justice said on Tuesday.
They are also alleged to have deliberately delayed informing the Coast Guard and to have made false statements.
The charges are directed against the two operating companies, Synergy Marine of Singapore and Synergy Maritime of India, as well as a 47-year-old man who worked for both companies as technical manager on the vessel involved in the accident.
At the end of March 2024, the container ship Dali rammed a support pillar of the more than 2.5-kilometre-long Francis Scott Key Bridge, causing the motorway bridge to collapse.
Six workers carrying out repairs on the bridge lost their lives. The ship had become unmanoeuvrable within minutes due to two power failures.
In a civil lawsuit, the US had previously agreed a settlement of just under $102 million with the ship’s operator and owner.
The criminal proceedings now concern, among other things, the economic damage caused by the blockage of shipping traffic. The Department of Justice estimates the alleged damages amount to at least $5 billion.
The indictment alleges the defendants used the wrong pump for the fuel supply. Unlike the pumps intended for this purpose, it did not restart automatically after the first power failure.
According to the prosecution, the operators also used the incorrect pump on other ships. Furthermore, it was not the first time that such a double power failure had occurred.
Several employees, including the defendant, allegedly attempted to cover up the use of the pump and lied to investigators about it.
