(Reuters) – The FBI has opened a federal criminal investigation into the collapse of a Baltimore bridge last month when a ship collided with one of its supports, the bureau said on Monday.
A spokeswoman told Reuters that FBI agents had boarded the cargo ship to conduct court-authorized law enforcement activity in connection with the crash.
There is no other public information available and the FBI will not comment further, the spokeswoman said.
On the morning of March 26, the giant container ship lost power and collided with a support pylon, causing the Francis Scott Bridge to fall into the Patapsco River and killing six people working on the ship at the time of the accident.
The Washington Post reported on Monday that the investigation into the accident will focus partly on whether the crew of the cargo ship Dali left port knowing that the cargo ship had serious problems with its systems.
Security investigators have recovered the ship’s “black box” recorder, which provides data on its position, speed, direction, radar, bridge audio and radio communications, as well as alarms.
The head of the US National Transportation Safety Board told Congress separately last week that its investigators had questioned key cargo ship personnel as part of their investigation.
Work is ongoing to clear the debris and restore traffic through the port’s shipping channel.
It will take years to replace the bridge, but authorities have opened two temporary channels to allow some shallow-draft vessels to move around the damaged container ship. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers said two weeks ago that it hoped to open a new channel to the Port of Baltimore by the end of April.
When the accident occurred, Dali was en route from Baltimore to Colombo, Sri Lanka, with a crew of 21, plus two pilots to guide her out of the port.
The same ship was involved in an incident in 2016 in the port of Antwerp, Belgium, when it collided with a pier while trying to exit the North Sea container terminal.
According to data from the public Equisys website, which provides information about ships, an inspection conducted in San Antonio, Chile in June 2023 found that the ship lacked propulsion and auxiliary machinery.
According to the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore, the ship passed foreign-port inspections last June and September.
LSEG data shows the registered owner of the Singapore-flagged ship is Grace Ocean Pte Ltd. Synergy Marine Group managed the ship, and Maersk chartered the ship.
