A container ship dubbed Golden Ray that overturned off the coast of Georgia back in September still rests in its watery grave nearly six months after the initial accident. All 24 crew members made it out alive, but the ship’s cargo did not, as photos taken with the help of a lidar show.
As we initially reported, the 71,000-ton vessel belongs to Hyundai Glovis, the transportation arm of automaker Hyundai. The thousands of vehicles being transported were reportedly Kias and other models belonging to other global manufacturers, although based on the photos shown it appears that some of them are Chevrolet Tahoes or Suburbans.
The Golden Ray is still sitting on its side off the coast of Brunswick, and according to the Georgia Department of Natural Resources (DNS), an "unknown" amount of fuel and oil is still leaking due to the capsizing. Safety crews have reportedly been able to remove the ship’s rudder and over 320,000 gallons of fuel, oil, and water, but the environmental impact is still believed to be minimal. Research of having a giant cargo ship sitting in the waterway for months, however, is still underway.
Unsurprisingly, it’s not easy to move the 656-foot-long tanker. The ship will eventually have to be disassembled before moving, which will involve the recovery of the thousands of vehicles on board, according to Yahoo News.
In September, Hyundai confirmed to The Drive that it didn't have any vehicles on board, so it looks like the extraction effort will be a massive funeral for Kia as its vehicles are sent crusher. At least they will already be a little soft due to being somewhat submerged all this time. That's how it works, right?
We've reached out to Kia and GM for confirmation on which vehicles were being transported and will update this story as more information becomes available.
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