- It took a year to plan, but the salvage efforts for the Golden Ray started in earnest in November 2020.
- Last weekend, the first massive chunk was cut off of the ship and schlepped to shore.
- At least one SUV fell off the wreck and into the ocean when the section of the ship, weighing 6,000 metric tons, was airborne.
The saga of the Golden Ray continues. Once a simple cargo ship plying the seas, the 656-foot-long vessel made the news last September when it capsized off the coast of Georgia near Saint Simons Sound with around 4,200 new vehicles on board.
⚓️You love badass ships. So do we. Let's nerd out over them together.
Since then, it’s been sitting on the shallow ocean bed while plans to extract the ship and its contents from the scene were developed and, now, finally, implemented.
That’s why, all through November, salvage workers were getting ready to slice the ship into eight smaller pieces in order to move them back to shore. A giant chain powered by two large engine made the first cut through the keel last weekend.
This work required a giant piece of equipment called the Versabar VB 10,000, a crane vessel that was first built a decade ago to help with oil rigs damaged in hurricanes.
This enormous work vessel is made up of two barges with two truss space frames between them and is able to lift heavy wreckage out of the water so it can be loaded onto other ships and carried away.
The VB 10,000 can lift 7,500 metric tons, and it’s estimated that the first section of the Golden Ray weighed 6,000 metric tons, with all sorts of cars and sediment inside.
Once lifted in the air, the first cut slice of the Golden Ray was placed on the barge Julie B and taken to Port of Brunswick before eventually heading to a recycling center in Louisiana. It wasn’t easy work. During all of the work and commotion this past weekend, an SUV fell into the ocean from the large chunk of the Golden Ray that was lifted in the air.
🛶 The Best Inflatable Boats
The Intex Seahawk 3 is a three-person boat that's a great balance of budget and quality. It's versatile, so you can use it for fishing, relaxing, or rowing, and it's heavy-duty thanks to puncture resistant PVC. It inflates and deflates easily and comes with two aluminum oars.
Heading out with a crowd? Opt for Intex's Excursion 5. This inflatable boat can hold up to five people, and it even comes with a motor mount fitting. The boat features three air chambers for extra buoyancy, and an I-Beam floor construction adds rigidity.
You don't have to spend a lot to get an inflatable boat to use this summer—this Intex model comes in under $50! The budget-friendly boat has a three-person capacity, comes with two oars, and includes a manual pump. It's not the most heavy-duty on our list, but if you're just looking for casual cruising, you can't beat this.
If you're heading out fishing, this is the inflatable boat for you. The pontoon-style boat features removable gear bags for storage (including 20 pockets and two drink holders), an anchor system, and a rod holder that can be mounted in six different positions. The seat mount and foot rests can adjust to a wide variety of lengths, and this boat also has a motor mount.
This six-person boat is the ultimate summer party spot. With a spacious lounge area and a front bow seat, you'll have plenty of room for your whole crew. It even has an inflatable rear swim platform! Sit back, relax, and cruise all day.
You don't have to spend a lot to get an inflatable boat to use this summer—this Intex model comes in under $30! The budget-friendly boat has a two-person capacity, comes with two oars, and includes a manual pump. It's not the most heavy-duty on our list, but if you're just looking for casual cruising, you can't beat this.
Heading out with a crowd? Opt for Intex's Excursion 4. This inflatable boat can hold up to four people, and it even comes with a motor mount fitting. The boat features three air chambers for extra buoyancy, and an I-Beam floor construction adds rigidity.
Heading out with a crowd? Opt for Intex's Excursion 5. This inflatable boat can hold up to five people, and it even comes with a motor mount fitting. The boat features three air chambers for extra buoyancy, and an I-Beam floor construction adds rigidity.
The SUV wasn't the first to fall, and the salvage team has installed a giant net to catch things like this. Smaller chunks of debris have also washed up on nearby shores, and oil-skimming craft prowl the waters around the wreck to clean up any spills.
This kind of unusual activity is bringing out the gawkers. There’s a 200-yard safety barrier around the wreck, keeping the sightseeing boats and drones all trying to get good views of the situation a safe distance away. A Saint Simons resident told local news station WJXT that viewers can see distressed vehicles from shore.
"With the binoculars we can see cars and things inside the lifted section," she said. "The cars are jumbled, right? Some of them look like they're upside down, some of them look like you're looking at the roof. The ones we can see are red, white, and black. They’re definitely in all sorts of orientations and not great conditions."
It’s not just locals who are interested in the Golden Ray, which was only two years old when it capsized. The Brunswick News says documentary filmmaker Josh Gilligan is making a movie about the wreck and salvage mission. "The size and scope of it is just unreal," he told the News. We can’t wait to see his finished work, but at least we have some local news footage to watch until then.
Watch Next:
Sebastian Blanco has been writing about electric vehicles, hybrids, and hydrogen cars since 2006. His articles and car reviews have appeared in the New York Times, Automotive News, Reuters, SAE, Autoblog, InsideEVs, Trucks.com, Car Talk, and other outlets. His first green-car media event was the launch of the Tesla Roadster, and since then he has been tracking the shift away from gasoline-powered vehicles and discovering the new technology's importance not just for the auto industry, but for the world as a whole. Throw in the recent shift to autonomous vehicles, and there are more interesting changes happening now than most people can wrap their heads around. You can find him on Twitter or, on good days, behind the wheel of a new EV.
