File photo shows a U.S. Coast Guard boat approaches clean-up operations at the Francis Scott Key Bridge as the main shipping channel prepares to fully reopen, in Baltimore. File
| Photo Credit: Reuters

The U.S. Department of Justice has filed a response in a Maryland court demanding more than $100 million in damages from Grace Ocean Pvt Ltd and Synergy Marine Pvt Ltd, the owner and the manager of containership Dali that crashed into a bridge off Baltimore on March 26. This led to six deaths and two persons were injured, besides requiring a salvage operation and shutdown of the Baltimore port for many months.

The response filed was to a limited liability claim made by the owner and the manager soon after the accident.

The Justice Department has called the tragedy “entire avoidable” and put the responsibility for the accident on the owner and the manager, alleging improper maintenance, violation of international safety and other norms, as well as an improperly trained crew.

Dali’s crew was almost entirely Indian. Synergy Marine, registered in Singapore, has Indians in key leadership positions with an operational base in Chennai and Mumbai, besides employing thousands of Indian seafarers on ships it manages.

Any merchant ship has a propeller run by an engine that moves it forward and back. A rudder controlled by a steering gear turns the ship left and right. Dali also had a bow thruster that can move it sideways. With these, Dali’s movements can be controlled.

As the ship was manoeuvring out of the port into the Chesapeake Bay, there was a blackout onboard. The Justice Department response says the ship had a history of heavy vibrations that were not addressed. The vibrations likely led to some power supply cables coming loose, leading to the switching off of a transformer and, hence, a blackout.

As per global norms, the emergency generator should have started after the blackout and provided power within 45 seconds. But that did not happen. The standby transformer was switched on after a delay and power was restored.

The response notes that Dali’s running generators were being supplied fuel by a “flushing” pump against norms that mandate the use of two large dedicated pumps. This was done to cut costs, the response alleged.

The flushing pump was not switched on after the blackout. So, starved of fuel, the generators offloaded, leading to a second blackout.

Without power, the engine could not be operated to stop the ship. There was no steering either. But the ship was moving forward under its own momentum and veering dangerously to the right towards the bridge pier.

At this time, the pilots ordered that the left side anchor should be dropped against the rightward drift but the ship staff were unable to drop the anchor quickly, according to the response. The pilots were told the bow thruster could not be operated either.

San Francisco, United States:

The US Justice Department on Tuesday said Boeing can be prosecuted for two subsequent 737 Max crashes that killed 346 people approximately five years ago.

Boeing breached obligations under an agreement that had shielded it against legal proceedings for the accidents, department officials said in a letter to a federal court in Texas.

Boeing told AFP “we believe that we have honored the terms of that agreement” and said that it plans to defend itself.

US officials said in their letter that Boeing breached its obligations under a deferred prosecution agreement (DFA) by “failing to design, implement, and enforce a compliance and ethics program to prevent and detect violations of the US fraud laws throughout its operations.”

Such a breach would mean Boeing can be prosecuted for any violation of federal law related to the crashes, according to US justice officials.

The government is evaluating how to proceed in the matter and has directed Boeing to respond by June 13.

US officials also plan to confer with families of people who died in the Lion Air Flight 610 and Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302 crashes.

“This is a positive first step, and for the families, a long time coming,” said attorney Paul Cassell, who represents crash victim families.

Cassell called for further action from the Department of Justice and added he would seek details regarding a “satisfactory remedy” to Boeing’s wrongdoing.

In March of 2019, a Boeing 737 MAX 8 operated by Ethiopian Airlines crashed southeast of Addis Ababa, killing the 157 people on board.

It was the second accident in five months for a 737 MAX aircraft, a product line meant to replace the 737 NG.

The first crash, involving a MAX 8 operated by Lion Air, occurred in October of the prior year in Indonesia’s Java Sea and left 189 people dead.

Both aircraft crashed shortly after takeoff, with investigations later pointing to trouble with the automated flight system.

The aircraft were temporarily grounded or banned from airspace around the world.

“We will engage with the Department with the utmost transparency, as we have throughout the entire term of the agreement,” Boeing said in a statement to AFP.

It said this also included “response to their questions following the Alaska Airlines 1282 accident.” 

The dramatic mid-flight blowout on January 5 of a fuselage panel on an Alaska Airlines plane precipitated the departures of a series of top Boeing officials — including CEO Dave Calhoun, who is set to step down at year’s end.

It also resulted in reduced production of the 737 MAX. 

Multiple inquiries, audits

The US Federal Aviation Administration was sharply criticized after the crashes of two Boeing 737 MAX planes in 2018 and 2019. 

But as Boeing faces multiple inquiries and audits in the United States and abroad, it has repeatedly assured critics that it is working “with full transparency and under the oversight” of FAA regulators.

The DPA required Boeing to pay $2.5 billion in fines and restitution in exchange for immunity from criminal prosecution for charges it defrauded the government during the certification of the MAX.

A federal judge in Texas early last year rejected a challenge by relatives of Boeing 737 MAX crash victims to the aviation giant’s US criminal settlement, ruling against ordering changes to the controversial January 2021 DPA.

The families have argued that Boeing’s role in what they have called the “deadliest corporate crime” in US history merits criminal conviction of the company and top brass. 

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)