In September 2019, there was an accident off the coast of Georgia, involving the Hyundai ship carrying thousands of vehicles. Reports claim that the ship capsized and caught fire, picking up several cars in the wreck. The ship was dismembered to remove debris from its current location.
The 656-foot Golden Ray is a vehicle carrier owned by Hyundai Glovis – Hyundai Motor’s ocean freight logistics division. It has a capacity of 6,933 cars but was only carrying 4,300 Kia, General Motors (Chevrolet and GMC), Mercedes-Benz and Ram vehicles at the time of the accident.
The Golden Ray was headed to Baltimore after leaving the Port of Brunswick in Georgia, reports said.
A social media post from Aurizn shows the Golden Ray being dismembered, showing the cars trapped inside. You can view the dramatic photos in the embedded section above, or access the Facebook post via the source link at the bottom of this story.
There were 24 people on board when the incident occurred, including 23 crew members from various countries and an American pilot. Everyone was saved alive.
Following the incident, NPR reported that a recovery team from the state of Georgia, the Coast Guard, and Hyundai contractor Gallagher Marine Systems were tasked with pumping about 300,000 gallons of fuel and oil out of the ship’s tanks. There were still leaks after the attempt, although efforts were made afterward to reduce the spread of contaminants.
In order to remove the Golden Ray’s carcass, a plan was made to cut it into eight pieces, with each piece being lifted one by one from the water. An animated video of the plan was released by St. Simons Sound Joint Information Center, which you can watch above.
The last piece of Golden Ray debris was lifted from the scene towards the end of 2021.
