Golden Ray: Responders get ready for final cut
Written by Nick Blenkey
Section Six of wreck was towed away Saturday. [St. Simon's Sound Response photograph]
Responders removed Section Six of the capsized car carrier Golden Ray from the wreck site in St. Simon’s Sound, Ga., on Saturday. That leaves two of the eight sections of the wreck to be removed. They will be separated by one final cut, using a chain rigged between the twin gantries of the giant heavy-lift catamaran, VB-10000.
Tug crews towed Section Six to a response facility south of the Georgia Port Authority’s Mayor’s Point Terminal on Saturday after it had been lifted and loaded onto a dry dock barge on Friday. During that lift, approximately 25 pollution response vessels quickly mitigated an oil discharge using oil skimmers, Current Busters and sorbent boom during the final lift of the section.
In total, on-water pollution response teams recovered approximately 2,300 gallons of oil during controlled lifting operations that began on July 31.
“We greatly appreciate the patience and support of the community as we complete another significant step in removing the Golden Ray wreck from St. Simons Sound,” said U.S. Coast Guard Cmdr. Efren Lopez, federal on-scene coordinator. “Our personnel continue to ensure our safety priorities are met throughout all operations from the wreck site to the shoreline.”
