\n<\/p>\n
BALTIMORE — <\/span>A federal judge on Wednesday refused to postpone a trial that is scheduled to start next month for civil claims<\/a> stemming from the 2024 collapse of Baltimore\u2019s Francis Scott Key Bridge<\/a>, rejecting a request for a delay<\/a> by companies involved in the deadly disaster.<\/p>\n U.S. District Judge James Bredar said the civil trial will start as scheduled on June 1 despite the recent filing of criminal charges<\/a> against companies that managed the container ship Dali, which lost power and crashed into the Key Bridge in the early-morning hours of March 26, 2024.<\/p>\n Six construction workers who had been filling potholes were killed in the bridge collapse. Attorneys for victims and their families had urged Bredar to preserve the current schedule for the civil trial.<\/p>\n On May 12, Justice Department prosecutors announced the indictment against Singapore-based Synergy Marine Pte Ltd. and Chennai, India-based Synergy Maritime Pte Ltd. Also charged in the indictment was Radhakrishnan Karthik Nair, an Indian national who was the Dali’s technical superintendent.<\/p>\n