A portion of the Golden Ray vessel is transported through the future Bayou Chene floodgate Wednesday morning on its way to Modern American Recycling Services Inc. in Gibson where it will be salvaged. (Submitted Photo/Coral Marine Services)
A portion of the Golden Ray vessel passes through area
A portion of the Golden Ray, a vessel that capsized last year while carrying thousands of cars, passed through the area Wednesday morning on its way to Gibson where it was to be offloaded at Modern American Recycling Services Inc.
The vessel, a car carrier that capsized in St. Simon Sound in Brunswick Georgia on Sept. 8, 2019, passed through the future Bayou Chene flood protection structure around 7 a.m., according to Coral Marine Services General Manager Sean Carpenter. Coral Marine photographed the passage using a drone.
At MARS, the vessel will be scrapped.
The stern of the vessel was carried by the Crowley barge Julie B with a U.S. Coast Guard escort as the waterway was shut down temporarily to traffic for the transit, Carpenter said.
The Julie B will bring another section of the boat on its next trip to Louisiana.
The 656-foot vessel had 4,000 Hyundai and Kia vehicles on board when it capsized while leaving the Port of Brunswick, Georgia, last year.
The ship is being cut into sections for salvage. However, those salvage efforts were slowed by a fire and COVID-19.