The FBI and the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Maryland confirmed that authorities boarded the Maersk Saltoro on Saturday, a sister ship to the cargo shop that caused the Baltimore bridge collapse. The ship is managed by Synergy Marine Group.
Federal agents on Saturday boarded a vessel managed by the same company as a cargo ship that caused the deadly Baltimore bridge collapse, the FBI confirmed.
In statements, spokespeople for the FBI and the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Maryland confirmed that authorities boarded the Maersk Saltoro. The ship is managed by Synergy Marine Group.
“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,” statements from both the FBI and U.S. Attorney’s Office said Saturday morning.
Authorities did not offer further specifics. The first reported on federal authorities boarding the ship.
The raid came several months after investigators conducted a similar search of the Dali, the cargo ship that crashed into the bridge.
In a lawsuit filed Wednesday, the U.S. Justice Department alleged that Dali owner Grace Ocean Private Ltd. and manager Synergy Marine, both of Singapore, recklessly cut corners and ignored known electrical problems on the vessel, which lost power multiple times minutes before it crashed into a support column on the Francis Scott Key Bridge in March.
The Justice Department said mechanical and electrical systems on the massive ship had been “jury-rigged” and improperly maintained, culminating in the power outages and a cascade of other failures that left its pilots and crew helpless in the face of looming disaster.
