Dali chief engineer blocked from returning to US after India trip, attorney says
Karthikeyan Deenadayalan, the Dali's chief engineer, was barred from boarding his return flight from Chennai after US Customs and Border Protection told Emirates to deny him travel, his attorney told a federal judge.
The chief engineer of the container ship Dali, the vessel that struck Baltimore’s Francis Scott Key Bridge in March 2024, has been barred from returning to the United States after a trip home to India, his attorney has told a federal judge.
Karthikeyan Deenadayalan, 46, is the only Dali crew member facing federal charges over the disaster. He was charged in June with violating the Ports and Waterways Safety Act over allegedly failing to warn the US Coast Guard about faults on the ship before it lost power and hit the bridge, killing six construction workers. He entered a deferred prosecution agreement under which he must remain in the US but may travel abroad with permission.
Deenadayalan was allowed to visit India for about a month — his first trip home since January 2024 — on condition he returned by Monday. But on Sunday at Chennai airport, he was denied boarding on his Emirates flight back to Baltimore, despite carrying a sealed letter from the US government.
His attorney, John Connolly, wrote to US District Judge James Bredar on Tuesday that Emirates staff in Dubai, a stopover, had received an email from US Customs and Border Protection instructing the airline to refuse him until he presented to the US consulate for clearance. The consulate was closed.
“Mr. Deenadayalan remains ready, willing, and able to return to the U.S. as soon as his travel authorization is granted,” Connolly wrote. He has returned to his home in India and reported the problem to Pretrial Services. Neither Customs and Border Protection nor the Justice Department responded to requests for comment.
Sources: The Baltimore Banner (published 22 October 2026); CBS News (22 October 2026); Maritime Executive on the deferred prosecution agreement.
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