The 'unprecedented' wreck of a Hyundai cargo ship off the coast of Georgia a year ago is no longer a mystery - here's what happened

The cargo ship Golden Ray capsized and caught fire in September 2019 in St. Simons Sound off the coast of Brunswick, Georgia, roughly 80 miles south of Savannah, Georgia.

The US Coast Guard called the wreck "unprecedented," according to NPR ...

Source: NPR

... and the ship listed a full 90 degrees, according to CBS News.

Source: CBS News

The 656-foot vehicle carrier Golden Ray is owned and operated by Hyundai Glovis, Hyundai Motor's ocean freight logistics division.

The Golden Ray had the capacity to carry 6,933 vehicles.

However, at the time of its demise, the ship was carrying about 4,300 Kia, Chevrolet, GMC, GM, Mercedes-Benz, and Ram vehicles when capsized, according to a report by Car and Driver.

Source: Car and Driver

"We are making rescue of crew members as our top priority," a Hyundai Glovis official told Reuters at the time of the wreck. "After that we will investigate any damage on cargo."

Source: Reuters

The ship was headed to Baltimore up the coast from Jacksonville, Florida.

There were 24 people on board: 23 crew members and one pilot. Everyone was rescued alive.

Before being rescued, the rescue team was communicating with the trapped crew members through a hole the rescuers' drilled, according to CBS.

The Georgia Department of Natural Resources had been monitoring the coastal environmental conditions following the capsizing.

The company thanked the Coast Guard in a statement, and said it would work on "mitigating damage to property and the environment."

A joint recovery team between the state of Georgia, the Coast Guard, and Hyundai's contractor, Gallagher Marine Systems, was tasked with pumping the approximately 300,000 gallons of fuel and oil out of the ship's tank, NPR reported.

Source: NPR

Despite these efforts, the Golden Ray was leaking an "unknown" amount of fuel, and oil sheens have been found in the surrounding waters on the beaches and marshes.

The crew tried to mitigate the spill spreading by setting up containment booms, spraying oil absorbents onto the marshes, and removing oiled dead grass.

Salvage crew members were also monitoring the air and water quality and toxicity inside the ship to predict possible further contamination.

On October 25, 2019 the St. Simons Sound Response's Unified Command released 3D-photos of the ship's decks. This is the ninth deck.

Source: St. Simons Sound Response

The photos, including this one of the fourth deck, were created using laser technology that analyzed the inaccessible cargo hold filled with damaged cars.

Three days after the photos were released, the command decided to place rocks next to the hull to slow down the boat's erosion, according to Maritime Executive.

Source: Maritime Executive

The rocks will be removed after the Golden Ray has been completely dismantled.

Marine chemists and salvage operators, pictured below on November 22, 2019, were assessing the oil inside of the wreckage in order to figure out the best way to remove oil without damaging the environment and response crew.

Work barges have been deployed to clean up the tank's oil, as announced by St. Simons Sound Response on December 4, 2019. Barges provide better access to crew members and equipment.

Source: St. Simons Sound Response

On December 12, 2019, the St. Simons Sound Incident Response Unified Command finished removing oil from all of the ship's 26 accessible tanks. Some of the tanks were submerged and had to be oil pumped via diving operations.

Over 320,000 gallons of oil and water were removed.

"This milestone helps ensure the health of the environment and the livelihoods of the people who rely on the St. Simons Sound," Georgia Environmental Protection Division's emergency response state on-scene coordinator Jed Hewitt said in a statement. "The removal of fuel from the vessel has significantly reduced the remaining threat to the environment."

Source: St. Simons Sound Incident Response

On December 20, 2019, Golden Ray's rudder and propeller -which weighed a total of 130 tons - were removed to "help reduce stresses to the hull of the wreck," St. Simons Sound Response wrote in a statement.

A fire was started on board the ship on January 19 when contract welders were working inside the ship. At least one car inside of the Golden Ray caught on fire, but the flames were put out via the contractor's fireboat, local news reported.

Source: First Coast News, News 4 Jax

Donjon-SMIT, the former Golden Ray salvage company, filed a lawsuit against the US Coast Guard alleging that the Coast Guard violated federal law by dropping Donjon-SMIT to work with a rival company, News 4 Jax reported.

Source: News 4 Jax

Donjon-SMIT said the US Coast Guard allegedly violated a 1990 federal law after Donjon-SMIT was dropped as the official salvage response company even though it was already a part of the Golden Ray's response plan, WABE reported.

Source: WABE

"The cars need to be safely removed to avoid environmental disaster," Donjon-SMIT said in the legal filing, News 4 Jax reported.

Source: News 4 Jax

The new salvage company was set to start removing the Golden Ray in March, NPR reported.

Source: NPR

St. Simons Sound Joint Information Center released an animated video on YouTube depicting how the wreck will be removed.

Source: YouTube 

The Golden Ray was to be sawed into eight pieces, and the sections will then be individually lifted out of the water and placed onto a barge to be taken away.

Workers from the salvage company placed an environmental barrier around the Golden Ray to stop oil and debris from spreading during the removal process.

After the coronavirus pandemic and hurricanes caused delays in the removal plan, the team finally lifted the bow, the ship's first cut, towards the end of November 2020, Car and Driver reported.

Source: Car and Driver

On December 9, 2020, Car and Driver published a report that found that hundreds of subcompact vehicles were replaced by the heavier Kia Telluride SUVs, therefore changing the ship's balance and causing the wreck.

Source: Car and Driver

According to the report, 316 new Tellurides replaced about 285 Kia Fortes and Hyundai Accents after the ship stopped in Brunswick, Georgia for a cargo change.

According to the Car and Driver report, the weight difference between a subcompact and a Telluride is about 1,200 pounds.