Jan. 8/2021: I feel a bit invested in this situation, as I sailed Lunacy past the overturned hull of the 656-foot car carrier Golden Ray in the fall of 2019, not long after she capsized in St. Simons Sound in Georgia. It was… and still is… a very impressive sight as the St. Simons Sound Incident Response team works to remove the wreck with the incredibly massive VB-10000 heavy-lift vessel.
I last mentioned this back in July, when the VB-10000 first arrived on the scene. It took longer than expected, however, for the Golden Arch to move into position over the wreck (see image up top), and it wasn’t until November that it actually starting sawing through the wreck.
The first section removed was the bow. The second section, the stern, was just removed last week. There are six more sections to go!
They’re cutting through the wreck simply by sawing away at it with a huge anchor chain. This is supposed to reduce the amount of oil and pollutants getting into the water
Here a 3D video rendering of how that works:
In addition to a huge containment fence around the entire area, response boats chase down stray bits of oil that do escape from the wreck
This was the first section removed, full of vehicles you will note!
This is the second section, the stern, with not so many vehicles in it
And here’s a nice aerial viddy of the stern departing the scene on a barge:
