Three days after US authorities filed a $103m claim against the ship manager and shipowner of the 9,962-teu Dali (built 2015) over a deadly bridge collapse, FBI agents and the US Coast Guard boarded a second vessel managed by the same company, Synergy Marine.
US government officials set foot on the Singapore-flagged, 10,000-teu Maersk Saltoro (built 2015), which is docked in Baltimore as well.
“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-authorised law enforcement activity,” the Associated Press cited the FBI and the US Attorney’s Office as saying.
Authorities did not elaborate further.
A spokesman for Singapore-based manager Synergy Marine and compatriot owner Grace Ocean confirmed the boarding but declined to comment further on the development, saying that any related questions should be addressed to the US agencies involved.
TradeWinds has already reported about the US lodging on Wednesday a $103m claim against Synergy Marine and Grace Ocean after the Dali destroyed the Francis Scott Key Bridge in March.
The collision led to the death of six construction workers, cut off traffic to the major port and caused a massive effort to remove debris from the shipping channel.
In a filing with the federal court in Baltimore, the US Justice Department said the Dali disaster was entirely avoidable.
The Singapore-flagged Dali left Baltimore nearly six months after the incident, TradeWinds reported on Thursday.
The ship’s transponder shows it is headed for the major Chinese container port of Ningbo. It is listed as in ballast, meaning it is travelling without cargo.
TradeWinds also reported on Friday that the families of the six construction workers who fell to their deaths in the Dali collision filed wrongful death claims against the owner of the ship.
All these developments come as a 24 September deadline for claims nears at a US federal court in Baltimore.
