MV Golden Ray

2019

St Simons Sound, ballast miscalculation, the longest salvage Location: St Simons Sound, off Brunswick, Georgia · Coordinates: 31.12°N 81.42°W · Casualties: 0 · Survivors: 24 · Depth: 15 m (on her side) · Cause: capsized · ballast miscalculation — Capsized at 01:39 on 8 September 2019 leaving the Port of Brunswick with 4,161 vehicles aboard. The chief officer had miscalculated her ballast, leaving insufficient metacentric height to withstand a routine turn. She heeled 60 degrees and came to rest on her starboard side in the shipping channel. · Fate: cut into eight pieces 2020-22 · scrapped · Type: pure car/truck carrier · Tonnage: 71,178 GRT · Crew: 24 · Flag: Marshall Islands · Hyundai Glovis · Launched: 2017 South Korean-operated car carrier, loaded with 4,161 vehicles in Brunswick, Georgia. Capsized at 01:39 on 8 September 2019 in the St Simons Sound shipping channel after the chief officer miscalculated her ballast. No deaths, though the engine room crew were trapped for nearly a day. The salvage took two and a half years and involved cutting her into eight pieces in place, the most expensive wreck-removal operation in American waters. The Vessel The MV Golden Ray was a Marshall Islands-flagged pure car and truck carrier (PCTC) operated by the South Korean Hyundai Glovis shipping company, built at the Hyundai Mipo Dockyard yard at Ulsan, South Korea in 2017 and commissioned on 6 November 2017. She was 200 metres long, 71,178 gross tons, and powered by a diesel engine producing approximately 17,000 horsepower. Her specific design was a modern pure car and truck carrier with capacity of approximately 7,500 vehicles on 13 internal decks. She was owned by the Norwegian Hoegh Autoliners shipping group and operated under management by the South Korean Hyundai Glovis. Her specific operational role was transatlantic car transport: specifically the export of Korean and Japanese-manufactured vehicles to North American destinations. Her master on her final voyage was Captain Jonas Koreshenkov, 48, a Russian career merchant marine officer. Her complement on 8 September 2019 was 24 crew, predominantly South Korean and Filipino merchant marine personnel. The Disaster At approximately 01:37 on 8 September 2019, MV Golden Ray capsized in the Brunswick outer harbour, Georgia, in approximately 11 metres of water. The specific capsize was rapid; the ship rolled completely onto her port side within approximately 5 minutes of the initial stability loss. The specific capsize location - in a relatively shallow coastal waterway with good access to rescue resources - was substantially favourable for emergency response. Multiple US Coast Guard vessels and Georgia state rescue vessels responded immediately; US Navy divers and salvage specialists were deployed within hours. The specific evacuation of the crew was successful. Twenty of the 24 crew evacuated from the ship via the specific lifeboats and by the rescue vessels' extraction procedures. The remaining 4 crew members (all South Korean) were trapped in the ship's engine room and in other below-deck spaces. The specific rescue operation for the 4 trapped crew members was one of the most intensive maritime rescue operations in American history. The specific operation involved: (i) US Coast Guard and US Navy diving specialists; (ii) specialised cutting equipment to create access through the capsized ship's hull; (iii) approximately 40 hours of continuous rescue operations. All 4 trapped crew members were eventually rescued alive through the systematic cutting of access holes through the ship's hull. The specific final rescue was completed on 9 September 2019, approximately 40 hours after the initial