Ship that struck Baltimore bridge was not a ‘Chinese vessel’

Since Baltimore’s Francis Scott Key Bridge collapse March 24, fact-checkers have looked into false claims blaming the incident on everything from cyberattacks to Ukraine to Israel.

Now, some are taking aim at a familiar U.S. adversary: China.

Peggy Hubbard, an Illinois Republican who ran twice for U.S. Senate, in a March 27 Facebook post said that the U.S. government should not be held responsible for the cost of rebuilding the bridge: “We didn’t (damage) the damn Baltimore bridge! That was a Chinese company that (did) the damage! Let them replace it.”

We saw others connecting China to the incident, including this March 27 Facebook reel from a man who called it a “Chinese vessel.” 

(Screenshot from Facebook)

These posts were flagged as part of Meta’s efforts to combat false news and misinformation on its News Feed. (Read more about our partnership with Meta, which owns Facebook and Instagram.)

We found reports that the parent companies of the owner and manager of the ship that struck the Francis Scott Key Bridge were based in Hong Kong, a special administrative region of China. The ship was registered in Singapore. The crew onboard were Indian people, according to the ship management company.

The ship Dali was built by South Korean shipbuilding company Hyundai Heavy Industries in 2015. It is registered in Singapore, owned by Singapore-based company Grace Ocean Private Ltd. and managed by ship management company Synergy Marine Group.

The New York Times reported that Grace Ocean Private Ltd. is owned by Grace Ocean Investment Limited, which is based in the British Virgin Islands. 

Lloyd’s List, a maritime intelligence publication, in 2021 reported an infraction by a bulker owned by Grace Ocean Investment. The Lloyd’s List article said the company was based in Hong Kong. But The New York Times found Hong Kong company records show that a company with that name and address dissolved in 2015.

The New York Times report said the company’s four directors include two Filipino citizens, a Singaporean, and a Japanese citizen, all of whom have listing addresses in Singapore.

Meanwhile, Synergy Marine Group has 28 offices across 14 countries, including two offices in China. According to CBS News, its parent company, Unity Group Holdings International, is based in Hong Kong. 

Synergy Marine Group’s headquarters are in Singapore. Its founder and chief executive is Rajesh Unni, who is Indian. According to a 2022 report, the company employed more than 18,000 seafarers, more than 80% of whom are Indian nationals.

The crew of 22 who were aboard the ship were all Indians, Synergy said.

The Dali was chartered by Danish shipping company Maersk for a planned trip from Baltimore to Sri Lanka and was carrying Maersk customers’ cargo at the time. Maersk said none of its crew and personnel were onboard the ship.

The U.S. and other countries inspected the ship. Inspectors at the port of San Antonio, Chile, found in June 2023 that the Dali had a problem related to “propulsion and auxiliary machinery,” but the ship continued to be in service. It also underwent inspection in September by the U.S. Coast Guard in New York and had routine engine maintenance before it left Baltimore.

USA Today reported that maritime law mandates that state-licensed pilots must pilot foreign-flagged vessels into state ports. 

Singapore’s Maritime and Port Authority said it would provide “full cooperation” with the U.S. Coast Guard and said it will also investigate the incident. Singapore’s Transport Safety Investigation Bureau will carry out its own investigation to identify ways to prevent future marine casualties and incidents, not to determine liability.

Ultimately, the groups and the people that directly oversaw the Dali’s operations were not Chinese. We rate that claim False.

PolitiFact Researcher Caryn Baird contributed to this report.

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