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Golden Ray to be scrapped in place....

Discussion in 'General Yachting Discussion' started by Oscarvan, Oct 19, 2019.

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  1. Oscarvan

    Oscarvan Senior Member

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  2. Capt Ralph

    Capt Ralph Senior Member

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    What a cluster F...
    KaBongle since it happened.
    Even the rescue of the last crew was an embarrassment.
    Glad all are well.
  3. Scott W

    Scott W Senior Member

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    I'm surprised this isn't a bigger story. I'm not sure if 'environmental catastrophe' is hyperbolic. It's noticeable that they don't provide an estimated time for completion.
  4. Capt Ralph

    Capt Ralph Senior Member

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    In that shallow water, it will be late next year before the hull cutting starts.
  5. Capt J

    Capt J Senior Member

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    I was in Brunswick, GA at a marina overnight 2 weeks ago or so when they were bunkering fuel off of her. There was a slight sheen on the water during incoming tide, but hardly noticeable. Saw the ship from as close as they'd let me get, 150 yards...…..pretty massive in person on her side.
  6. CTdave

    CTdave Senior Member

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    Any idea what the ships value is? I thought I heard it was relatively new and I wondered what the cost to right it vs. the cost to cut it up. We've all seen things like Concordia, I don't know what the issue would be to get Golden Ray "right side up".
  7. Oscarvan

    Oscarvan Senior Member

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    Me thinks if they could they would.
  8. olderboater

    olderboater Senior Member

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    I think loss of the ship's integrity is the key factor as it's already showing signs of weakness from the stress it's been under. Combine that with lack of water, with exposure to continued pressure from wind and water, with shifting cargo and I think it created a risk they felt unwise to take.
  9. Oscarvan

    Oscarvan Senior Member

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    That and the logistics surrounding the equipment needed to pick it up and carry it to deeper water would be somewhat prohibitive.
  10. captholli

    captholli Senior Member

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    Reading an article last week about the record price for super tanker daily rates and the author spoke to the scrap value of certain ships. A VLCC that's 10 yrs old and cost $150 million to build has a scrap value of $16 million. The article didn't discuss car carriers as it was crude carrier centric.
  11. CTdave

    CTdave Senior Member

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    Oscar, older,Capth
    Makes sense, thanks for the insight. I had an idea that torching it plus scrap value must outweigh recovery but I didn't think about seaworthiness repairs on top of the multi millions involved in a recovery of this magnitude. Bring on the oxy-acetylene and plasma torches!
  12. Lepke

    Lepke Member

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    Ships still under their own power go for $1 million on up depending on how much steel and other items that can be sold like engines, generators and winches. If the vessel was floating and upright, towing to a scrapper could be several hundred thousand. The engine room is usually the most valuable part of a scrapped ship. But if the engine/generators were damaged in the roll over, lack of oil/water damage, it greatly effects the value of the overall scrapping.
    Returning this ship to service probably would require dredging, adding and removing weight to facilitate upright rotation and maybe parbuckling. Not to mention months in a full service shipyard. Just moving the necessary equipment needed to right the ship could be millions. And right now most of it's cargo is stacked on the port side.
    A few years ago on the West Coast, a 83' yacht, sister to my hull, sank at the dock in shallow water. It cost 1.5 million to salvage.
    Parbuckling the Oklahoma at Pearl Harbor:

    Attached Files:

  13. CTdave

    CTdave Senior Member

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    Thanks Lepke. A lot more involved than I knew!
  14. Capt Ralph

    Capt Ralph Senior Member

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    I’m sure all have noticed big ships that seem to carry the trailers of big road truck trailers less the wheels. These are called containers and the wheels with under-supporting frame (trailer) stay on shore.

    This allows for these containers to be moved on land (on these trailers behind a truck) or on ships (stacked like blocks).

    Companies bang heads with the logistics in stacking these containers on ships ensuring minimal time in port unloading and loading the correct container blocks within a time schedule and minimal or no time spent on touching any other container until it’s time to unload in another port. While on board, all are inter-connected and chained down in place to the ship.


    You may also have notice car carriers from afar. RORO’s or Roll on – Roll off’s are also carefully packed in a way that cars are rolled (driven) off with out affecting any other car on the ship.

    This is important time wise. Every car, truck or any piece of equipment is chained down to the deck and this keeps all from moving around in case bad weather or other un-planed effects of the ship happen.


    The Pacific Rim countries that sell and pack these supper transport ships take Logistics and planning down to a serious notch. There is nothing touched or guessed at.

    Period… Any new loads also carry the precise planning and security on both the container ships and RORO’s.

    There were new loads of cars planed and boarded in Mexico onboard M/V Golden Ray for delivery to other ports of the world.


    Now, Move to September 8, 2019. RORO – M/V Golden Ray quietly leaves Colonel’s Island Port in Brunswick Georgia.

    At the inlet to the sea 20 minutes out, some kind of fire was reported on board. At the same time, M/V Golden Ray passes a ship during a normal port to port turn within the normal range. 23 minutes out the pilot turns the ship out of the channel into shallow water.

    With no more mention of the fire, the ships trim affected by shallow water,, M/V Golden Ray rolls to her side.

    The morning of September 9, I have never witnessed a blatant stifle of a story than the grounding of M/V Golden Ray.


    Some pictures of some loose cars.

    Some story of smoke, days later that came and went. Suspect battery car that got wet (NS).

    Lots of pollution monitoring.

    Some rocks dropped to stop some silt from shifting (BFD).

    And an announcement; that this next to new ship will be removed in pieces.

    No real story of what really happened.



    Other than the removal of leaking fuel and some other gross pollutants, I feel it’s a preservation of evidence.

    Some Body(s) really screwed up. The ship is not going anywhere for a long time.

    You thought the Italians were slow, watch this..



    Oh, BTW,, lots of P C pictures on this site;

    https://ssiresponse.com/
  15. Capt Ralph

    Capt Ralph Senior Member

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    M/V Golden Ray now posted;
    No Drone.png
  16. Kevin

    Kevin YF Moderator

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    Ya' missed something there Cap.
  17. Capt Ralph

    Capt Ralph Senior Member

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    Last edited: Nov 13, 2019
  18. GhostriderIII

    GhostriderIII Senior Member

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    I remember my Dad towing a 180m cargo vessel to the shipbreakers in Bangladesh in 2006.....It was either the SK or Chittagong yard
    No environmental rules - thousands of people running all over place - no shoes, no shirts, sweltering heat.
    Last edited by a moderator: Nov 14, 2019
  19. Capt Ralph

    Capt Ralph Senior Member

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    The Unified Command, working with the Georgia Ports Authority, expanded commercial vessel traffic operations to 24 hours in the Port of Brunswick on Thursday, Nov. 14, 2019.
  20. Capt J

    Capt J Senior Member

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    I have pictures of her on her side that I took about a month ago. Pleasure vessels could go in and out of the port as usual but had to keep 150 yards away.