Northeast
FBI agents have boarded vessel managed by company whose other cargo ship collapsed Baltimore bridge
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.
JUSTICE DEPARTMENT FILES $100M LAWSUIT AGAINST OPERATOR OF VESSEL IN BALTIMORE KEY BRIDGE WRECK
“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 Washington Post 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.
The cargo ship Dali is stuck under part of the structure of the Francis Scott Key Bridge after the ship hit the bridge, Tuesday, March 26, 2024, as seen from Pasadena, Md. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein, File)
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. The ship was leaving Baltimore for Sri Lanka when its steering failed because of the power loss.
Six members of a road work crew were killed when the bridge crumbled into the water. The collapse also snarled commercial shipping traffic through the Port of Baltimore for months before the channel was fully reopened in June.
The Justice Department is seeking to recover more than $100 million the government spent to clear the underwater debris and reopen the city’s port.
The companies filed a court petition days after the collapse seeking to limit their legal liability in what could become the most expensive marine casualty case in history. Justice Department officials said there is no legal support for that bid to limit liability and pledged to vigorously contest it.
In its lawsuit, which also seeks punitive damages, the Justice Department argued that vessel owners and operators need to be “deterred from engaging in such reckless and exceedingly harmful behavior.”
That includes Grace Ocean and Synergy themselves because the Dali has a “sister ship,” authorities wrote in the claim.
The two companies “need to be deterred because they continue to operate their vessels, including a sister ship to the Dali, in U.S. waters and benefit economically from those activities,” the lawsuit says.
Darrell Wilson, a Grace Ocean spokesperson, confirmed that the FBI and Coast Guard boarded the Maersk Saltoro in the Port of Baltimore on Saturday morning. Wilson has previously said the owner and manager “look forward to our day in court to set the record straight.”
Like the Dali, the Singapore-flagged Saltoro was built by Hyundai in 2015.
According to the Justice Department lawsuit, major issues with the Dali’s electrical system may have resulted from excessive vibrations on the ship that can loosen wires and damage connections. A prior captain of the vessel had reported “heavy vibration” in his handover notes in May 2023, saying he had made similar reports to Synergy in the past, according to the complaint.
The lawsuit noted cracked equipment in the engine room and pieces of cargo shaken loose. The ship’s electrical equipment was in such bad condition that an independent agency stopped further electrical testing because of safety concerns, according to the lawsuit.
The ship had also experienced power outages while it was still docked in Baltimore. Those blackouts are considered “reportable marine casualties” that must be reported to the U.S. Coast Guard, which authorities say never happened.
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The Dali, which was stuck amid the wreckage of the collapse for months before it could be extricated and refloated, departed Norfolk, Virginia, on Thursday afternoon en route to China on its first international voyage since the March 26 disaster.
Justice Department officials refused to answer questions Wednesday about whether a criminal investigation into the bridge collapse remains ongoing. FBI agents boarded the Dali in April.
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Boston, MA
Ariana Grande fan gets better tickets to TD Garden concert in Boston after resolving StubHub issue
Ariana Grande is coming to Boston next week and one of her biggest fans in Massachusetts will be there after resolving a ticket issue with StubHub.
Kelsie Duest of Hopedale had two front row balcony seats to Grande’s show on July 23 at TD Garden. Her brother bought them for her on StubHub last year. Her mother said it cost nearly $1,400 for the pair.
But about a month later, Sharon Duest checked her Apple Wallet and noticed the tickets were invalid. She said StubHub offered them a choice, take a refund or different tickets.
Duest ended up accepting the tickets that were offered, only to learn they were obstructed view seats behind the stage and Kelsie wouldn’t be able to see Grande during parts of the concert.
Concerned that her daughter, who has Down syndrome, would miss out on the experience of seeing Grande on stage, Duest tried calling and emailing Stubhub hoping to get better seats.
“We didn’t want anything for free. We just wanted just the tickets that we had,” she told WBZ-TV.
With the concert coming up soon, the Duests reached out to the I-Team’s Call for Action for help, who contacted StubHub.
“We’re so sorry about the issues Sharon experienced with their ticket order, especially given how meaningful this concert is to Kelsie,” a company spokesperson said in an email.
“We understand how disappointing and stressful that situation was. Our Customer Care team worked with them to resolve the issue and ultimately secured upgraded replacement tickets in a section in front of where the original seats were located, allowing them to attend the show with an improved view.”
Kelsie and her mom now have club seats closer to the stage than the tickets they originally purchased.
“I know we couldn’t have done this without you guys. Thank you, thank you from the bottom of our hearts,” Sharon Duest said.
A good rule of thumb with electronic tickets is to always check on them to confirm that they remain valid up until the event. You should also keep good records in case you need a refund or a replacement.
Pittsburg, PA
Abandoned mini golf course in Westmoreland County getting new life
Connecticut
Wethersfield woman accused of sexually coercing minor from New York after meeting him online
HARTFORD, Conn. (WTNH) — A Wethersfield woman was charged Friday after allegedly bringing a minor from New York to her home and attempting to sexually coerce him, according to the United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut.
Amily Colon, 31, was charged on a federal criminal complaint with attempted coercion and enticement of a minor, and with transportation of a minor to engage in sexual activity, according to the U.S. Attorney for the District of Connecticut.
Court documents allege that Colon initiated an online relationship with a 13-year-old boy from New York.
Colon, who identified herself as “Alice,” allegedly had conversations with the victim through a messaging and communications app, according to court documents.
The conversations became sexually explicit, documents state. Then, Colon allegedly coerced the victim to send her a sexually explicit video of himself, and Colon sent back explicit images and videos of herself in return.
On June 26, Colon traveled to an area of New York to pick up the victim and bring him to her residence in Wethersfield, court documents allege. Here, Colon allegedly attempted to engage in sexual activity.
The next day, Colon drove the victim back to New York and dropped him off a few blocks from his home, according to court documents.
Colon was ordered detained in Hartford on Friday.
Officials in Connecticut and New York are conducting the investigation.
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