In September 2019, an accident off the coast of Georgia occurred, involving a Hyundai ship that was carrying thousands of vehicles. Reports claimed that the vessel capsized and caught fire, taking several cars in its wreck. The ship was sliced up into pieces to remove the wreckage from its current location.
The 656-foot Golden Ray was a vehicle carrier owned by Hyundai Glovis – Hyundai Motor's ocean freight logistics division. It had a capacity of 6,933 cars but was only carrying 4,300 Kia, General Motors (Chevrolet and GMC), Mercedes-Benz, and Ram vehicles when the accident happened.
The Golden Ray was headed to Baltimore after leaving Port of Brunswick in Georgia, reports said.
A social media post from Aurizn shows Golden Ray being cut up to pieces, showing the cars trapped inside. You may view the dramatic photos in the embedded section above, or access the Facebook post via the source link at the bottom of this story.
There were 24 people aboard the ship when the incident happened, including 23 crew members from various countries and an American pilot. Everyone was rescued alive.
After the incident, NPR reported that a recovery team from the state of Georgia, the Coast Guard, and Hyundai's contractor, Gallagher Marine Systems, was tasked to pump around 300,000 gallons of fuel and oil out of the ship's tank. There were still leaks following the attempt, though efforts were made afterward to mitigate the spread of contaminants.
To remove the Golden Ray wreck, a plan was devised to have it cut into eight pieces, with each section to be individually lifted out of the water. An animated video of the plan was released by St. Simons Sound Joint Information Center, which you can watch above.
The final piece of Golden Ray's wreckage was lifted out of the scene toward the end of 2021.
