As GM Authority covered in March, the 656-foot cargo ship known as the Golden Ray capsized in St. Simons Sound late last year, and now, the U.S. Coast Guard is working to dismantle the vessel in a massive operation involving hundreds of responders and a vast array of specialized equipment.
Photo courtesy of St. Simons Sound Incident Response
Luckily, all 24 crew members aboard the Golden Ray were rescued. However, the cargo ship still contains thousands of new vehicles, including K2-based Chevy Tahoe SUVs, as evidenced in photos released in March. What’s more, the ship’s pre-stowage plan indicates that the ship contains Chevy Equinox, GMC Terrain, Chevy Blazer, and Chevy Trax crossovers, as well as various Kia and Mercedes models.
The plan is to dismantle the Golden Ray in chunks, sectioning off the wreck using enormous tools and equipment, such as a crane/cutter known as the VB-10000. Responders have modified their approach in dismantling the vessel following the initial cuts.
Photo courtesy of St. Simons Sound Incident Response
Complicating the issue are numerous environmental, health and safety issues, including concerns stemming from the COVID-19 pandemic. As reported in a news release from St. Simons Sound Incident Response, two responders tested positive for COVID-19 last week, necessitating contact tracing and quarantine for various personnel.
“The affected individuals are not part of the critical removal team who are sequestered separately at the Epworth by the Sea facility,” St. Simons Sound Incident Response reports. “Responders continue maintenance and assessment operations at the wreck site as well as pollution monitoring and mitigation operations on the water and along the shoreline.”
While it’s certainly sad to see so many brand-new vehicles destroyed by the wreck of the Golden Ray, not to mention the anxiety involved in such a dangerous operation, it’s also fascinating to see the engineering and at work to take this mammoth vessel apart. Here’s to hoping the operation goes smoothly with minimal impact to those involved and the surrounding environment.
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Comments
So the first huge section taken off is on a barge docked just down from my office, and OMG the smell was so bad for the first few days. We’re glad to see our most recent tourist attraction finally starting to go away so we can get back to our normal scenery!
Now see this is the problem, this is why these vehicles are not any more expensive than they are, because they’ve been shipped all the way from China because labour costs there are much cheaper so you can either have them made here and pay a little more and avoid all this mess or get them made in China on the cheap and junkie and risk this happening just a few times a year……….
So what’s the problem!? Geeeez!
They were built in America being exported to other countries if you would have read.
Another negative comment, no doubt, influenced by misinformation machines like Fox News to the multitude internet conspiracy sites proclaiming to be proAmerican…Tahoe’s are made in America.
The golden bay had just departed Brunswick these are american made cars.
Get ya a great deal on some salt water tested parts.
to the commenter Tom S GREED
Try reading the article. The GM vehicles were US built for the export market.
I can’t believe the bloody ship turned over in the first place, partly because…. wait for it…
…the ships crew forgot to close the door, through which the pilot steps aboard the vessel to navigate it out of port….
Can you just BELIEVE that sort of catastrophic failure on the part of the crew of that monstrous ship.
So…. it bloody well listed over only marginally, but the open door sank below the water level,
and the ship most likely filled with water very quickly, making it list over completely in a matter of seconds.
Had the pilot not reacted and understood immediately, the pot would have sank in the middle of a very busy shipping lane.
Here in la mars will swiftly take care of the golden ray and its cargo
I read the report when they switched cars they put heavier vehicles on top causing the ship to become top heavy and with the ballast tanks being emptied before loading caused it to flip over when making the turn, the bulk head door would not be a factor if the other events had not accoured
Don’t give him facts; he just has the need to sound profound and world-weary.
I just want to know the fate of the Vehicles.
Would love to buy a new GM LS based drive train. Not all we’re submerged.
Paul, they’re all scraped. The ship has been laying on its side for a year. Most have been under salt water or have crashed in one form or another as other things hit them or became untethered. The worst was years ago during the “carpocalypse” there were thousands of brand new cars already in transport that couldn’t be stopped when the bottom fell out. They sat in every available open field in Brunswick for a few months and then the manufacturer’s wrote the off and destroyed all of them. Those were all perfectly good… (mainly Kia and Hyundai)
If a moderator or admin would tell me where to send them, I have plenty of photos from Facebook showing more detail of the cars inside from the first section cut off.
Try reading actual details of investigation of capsizing rather than passing on hear-say on social media gossip pages. There is reliable info out there.