In response to the havoc caused by the massive Golden Ray carrier that sank off the Georgia coast three years ago, commercial fishermen are suing the cargo ship owner and manager and the company responsible for the lengthy salvage operation.
A Glynn County Commission lawsuit is seeking damages from the Golden Ray’s owner-operator and salvage company for cleanup costs, lost tourism dollars, damage to natural resources, and diminished property values resulting from the wreck and lengthy recovery.
State environmental regulators are accepting public comments until Dec. 23 on their proposed consent order to penalize Hyundai Glovis Co. for discharging pollutants and debris without a permit in one of the largest maritime disasters in American history.
Environmentalists say the removal of the ship only clears the part of the wreckage most obvious on the surface. They are pressing for more details on what will come next to clean marshes and shores of the remaining oil and other contaminants that aren’t so visible.
The oil spill happened after workers dismantled a section of the Golden Ray nearly a week ago and the tide swept the oil under the environmental protection barrier that is set up around the ship.
With the shipwrecked Golden Ray’s removal equipment repaired, salvage crews continue to get ready to resume their work removing the car carrier following a May 14 blaze in St. Simons Sound.
It's been nearly two years since crews began clearing a massive shipwreck from St. Simons Sound. Last week, the already dangerous cleanup operation got even more complex when what's left of the cargo ship caught fire. On the latest Georgia Today podcast, host Steve Fennessy and guest Larry Hobbs, a reporter with The Brunswick News, bring us the latest on the Golden Ray cleanup effort and how it could affect the state's coastal environment.
The Golden Ray, the massive container ship left stranded on its side in St. Simons Sound after running aground September 2019, was ablaze Friday afternoon, with flames stretching high into the air.
More than a year after the cargo ship Golden Ray capsized in the St. Simons Sound on its way out of the Port of Brunswick, most of it is still sitting in the water. Salvage crews are cutting it up, as they and environmental groups anxiously watch for a possible oil spill.
Crews monitoring the environmental impacts of the effort to cut up and remove the capsized ship found the lightly oiled pelican and turned it over to bird rehabilitation experts.
Monday Isaias became just the first named storm to come close to St. Simons Sound since the Golden Ray capsized there last summer. And as hurricane season arrives, environmentalists are nervous about what’s inside the remaining wreckage.
