Four crew members are still unaccounted for after a cargo ship started “heavily listing” and caught fire off the coast of Georgia early Sunday, according to the U.S. Coast Guard.
Authorities were first notified that the ship, the 656-foot Golden Ray, was listing in the early hours of Sunday morning in St. Simons Sound in Brunswick, Georgia. Coast Guard crews and officials from other agencies worked to rescue 20 of the 24 people on board, which included 23 crew members and one pilot. A fire on the ship forced them to temporarily stop.
The black smoke coming from the ship has since ceased. However, Capt. John Reed, commander of the Coast Guard Sector Charleston, said crews are “unable to determine specifically without going inside whether the fire has been completely extinguished.”
The vessel was laid over on its side by the afternoon as authorities continue working to stabilize the ship in order to resume rescue operations after they were stalled by the fire.
A @USCG Air Station Savannah helicopter crew and port partners rescued 20 people early this morning after the Golden Ray, a 656-foot vehicle carrier, was reported disabled and listing. 4 crew members are still unaccounted for. Video available here: https://t.co/WxHwVs9LPN pic.twitter.com/dD92UPuHH9
— USCGSoutheast (@USCGSoutheast) September 8, 2019
#Update Evacuations of the Golden Ray’s crew continue. All vessel traffic in the Port of Brunswick is currently suspended unless approved by the @USCG Captain of the Port. #HappeningNow pic.twitter.com/F7JbdGCShU
— USCGSoutheast (@USCGSoutheast) September 8, 2019
“The other outcome could be that it may be deemed more appropriate to go ahead and right the vessel and de-smoke and de-water before we are able to actually get in there and locate the four individuals,” Reed said in a Sunday afternoon press conference.
The ship, bearing the flag of the Marshall Islands, was destined for Baltimore, Maryland and expected to arrive there on Monday. According to the Coast Guard, it was carrying vehicles. Its registered owner is a South Korean company. The crew members are Filipino and South Korean, and those rescued were provided clothes and food by the International Seafarers’ Center.
The incident remains under investigation, but the ship so far does not appear to be a pollution hazard. It is currently unknown if weather conditions contributed to the vessel’s capsize, as Hurricane Dorian brushed by the Georgia coast last week.
