Contractors remove a ramp from the Golden Ray, which is capsized in St. Simon's Sound. The plan to cut up and remove the vessel has been announced.

Contractors remove a ramp from the Golden Ray, which is capsized in St. Simon's Sound. The plan to cut up and remove the vessel has been announced. / St Simons Sound Incident Response Joint Information Center

There is now a plan in place to remove the capsized cargo ship that has been in St. Simon’s Sound since September.

 

The Army Corps of Engineers Tuesday issued permits for the construction of an Environmental Protection Barrier around the ship, the Golden Ray. It’s designed to contain pollution and debris. Then, a floating crane will cut through the hull and remove the ship piece by piece.

 

Petty Officer First Class Nate Littlejohn said they hope to remove the entire ship before hurricane season in June.

 

“A hurricane rolling in and moving this wreck could be awful for the environment," he said. "So the goal is to just avoid that, get it out of there prior to then, however we can’t guarantee that’ll happen."

 

Construction of the barrier is set to begin in two weeks and will make noise during the day.

 

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