Dali Engineer Admits To Hiding Safety Risks Before Bridge Collapse
Picture Credit- Wikimedia
India-West News Desk
BALTIMORE-Karthikeyan Deenadayalan, an Indian national who served as chief engineer aboard the cargo ship Dali, has admitted he failed to report a safety issue on the vessel before it crashed into Baltimore’s Francis Scott Key Bridge, US authorities said.
Deenadayalan reached an agreement with federal prosecutors under which criminal charges against him will be put on hold as long as he complies with the conditions of the deal.
According to court documents, Deenadayalan knew that the Dali and two related vessels were operating with a fuel-system setup that lacked a backup mechanism. Authorities said the arrangement could make it harder for a ship to recover after a power failure, creating a risk to the vessel, nearby structures and shore areas.
Deenadayalan admitted he did not report the issue to the US Coast Guard, officials said.
Investigators also said he exchanged messages and emails with Radhakrishnan Karthik Nair, a Synergy official who was charged separately last month as part of the bridge-collapse investigation.
Court documents state that Nair instructed Deenadayalan to send a “convincing” email to the Dali’s charterer about the ship’s fuel consumption so that further questions would not expose the practice. Deenadayalan admitted sending the email, according to the filing.
The case is part of the wider federal investigation into the March 2024 disaster in which the Dali lost power and struck Baltimore’s Francis Scott Key Bridge, causing the structure to collapse.
Last month, prosecutors charged Synergy Maritime Pvt Ltd., Synergy Marine Pvt Ltd. and Radhakrishnan Karthik Nair in connection with the incident.
The agreement with Deenadayalan was announced by the US Attorney’s Office for the District of Maryland, the FBI, the US Coast Guard Investigative Service and the Environmental Protection Agency’s Criminal Investigation Division. Deenadayalan’s agreement marks the latest development in the ongoing criminal probe into the bridge collapse.
