Tag: Golden Ray

It’s still there: Capsized cargo ship off coast of Georgia visible at RSM Classic

Fourteen months after capsizing off the Georgia coast, the Golden Ray is being cut into eight sections and removed from St. Simons Sound.

Fourteen months ago, a 656-foot cargo ship named Golden Ray capsized in St. Simons Sound off the coast of Georgia.

The ship started listing soon after leaving port in Brunswick, Georgia, and didn’t get very far before tipping sideways, jostling its cargo of 4,200 vehicles, which today remain inside the ship. The crew were all rescued, but the ship has been stuck on its port side – just off the coast near the resort and golf courses at Sea Island – for more than a year.

Throughout the week of the RSM Classic in November 2019, the behemoth was the talk of the town. “That is the second most popular question I’ve been asked after ‘Can I get a parking pass?’” Davis Love III, host of his hometown PGA Tour event that supports his Davis Love III Foundation, said a year ago.

Crews previously pumped out more than 317,000 gallons of oil from the ship in an effort to stem environmental damage. A quarter of the ship is in sand more than 20 feet deep, meaning it couldn’t be turned upright without breaking apart.

This week the Golden Ray is still visible from the Seaside Course at the Sea Island Resort, home to the RSM Classic.

The removal process suffered through various delays due to a busy hurricane season, several coronavirus infections among members of the salvage team and an engineering problem dealing with how to anchor the crane.

Golden Ray
The Golden Ray cargo ship off the coast of Georgia is visible to golfers at the RSM Classic in St. Simons Island, Georgia. (Adam Schupak/Golfweek)

But two weeks ago, cutting and lifting operations on the Golden Ray wreck began.

Finally.

David Minshew has lived in the area for about 20 years.

“It’s become a tourist attraction,” he told First Coast News. “There’s a lot of people coming to look at it because it’s not every day you see a ship overturned. To me, it’s an eyesore.”

The heavy-lift vessel VB 10,000, essentially a floating crane, is straddling the Golden Ray. The 225-feet-tall VB 10,000 almost looks like a rollercoaster in the water, its crew cutting and lifting the wreck into eight sections. Those sections will be placed on barges and dry docks inside a protective barrier.

The VB 10,000 is the largest floating crane sailing under a U.S. flag, according to the Associated Press. It can lift loads of up to 7,500 tons.

The Georgia Department of Natural Resources has a livestream of the work being done.

Savannahnow.com, part of the USA TODAY Network, contributed to this article.

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Capsized cargo ship catches the eye at RSM Classic

Back in September, the Golden Ray, carrying 4,200 vehicles, listed and tumbled before capsizing off the Georgia coast.

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At first glance, you’re not quite sure what it is.

Then you start to wonder if it’s supposed to be there.

What exactly is that off the Georgia coast?

Viewers of the PGA Tour’s RSM Classic most certainly want to know.

RSM Classic: Scores | Photos | Tee times, TV info

Well, it’s a capsized cargo ship, a 656-foot-long behemoth named the Golden Ray.

Back in September, the ship, reportedly carrying 4,200 vehicles, listed and tumbled in St. Simons Sound shortly after leaving Brunswick, Georgia, and bound for Baltimore, before capsizing.

Twenty people were quickly rescued. Four others were pulled off the ship a day later. The ship is owned by Hyundai Glovis, based in South Korea.

David Lingmerth looks on from the 18th green during the first round of the RSM Classic on the Plantation course at Sea Island Golf Club on November 21, 2019 in St Simons Island, Georgia. (Photo by Streeter Lecka/Getty Images)

During the week, the talk up and down the practice range was this remarkable sight. Golfers in the field for the RSM Classic took picture after picture of the ship and asked members of the media what they knew about it.

“That is the second most popular question I’ve been asked after ‘Can I get a parking pass?'” said Davis Love III, who shot a 2 under 68 to open his tournament week.

Removal could take more than a year

When the event is played again in 2020, the ship is likely to still be there.

The Brunswick News reported on Thursday that the Coast Guard said it’s likely to take more than a year to remove the ship, which is slowly sinking in the sand. In fact, a quarter of the ship is in sand more than 20-feet deep. That means it cannot be turned upright without breaking apart.

Players warm up on the range as the capsized Golden Ray cargo ship is seen in the background at the 2019 RSM Classic in St Simons Island, Georgia. (Photo by Streeter Lecka/Getty Images)

Crews have removed more than 317,000 gallons of oil from the ship, in an effort to stem the environmental damage. Still on board: those 4,200 passenger cars.

The cause of the capsize is still under investigation.

“It’s disappointing when I come down the 18th hole with the Commissioner of the PGA Tour, the CEO of RSM, one of his guests, and (rock star) Darius Rucker and it’s the prettiest day of the year and you see a barge with port-o-lets on it and a sunken ship in the background,” Love said.

And, for the curious, it’s been confirmed that the ship is too far out to hit with a golf ball.

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