Golden Ray: Testimony Reveals How the Vessel Capsized off the Georgia Coast

A 656-foot cargo vessel known as Golden Ray capsized off the coast of Georgia in 2019. The vessel has rested on its side in St. Simons Sound with its cargo of more than 4,000 vehicles still inside, since she was overturned in September, 2019.

The ship’s owners and crew members talked about what happened moments before the vessel capsized and how the rescue team spent multi-days to save 24 people on board.

According to a public hearing on Tuesday, it was made known that the pilot, Capt. Jonathan Tennant, who steered Golden Ray out of the port at 1 am on September 8, 2019, vividly recalled that the wind was calm, and there was good visibility, which means everything was normal.

Capt. Jonathan typically said there would be warnings if something is going wrong; alarms, the sound of crew members speaking rapidly in a native language, the engine room calling up. But none of the warnings happened.

The pilot said the accident happened in seconds, “When I felt like I was losing control of the vessel, I reached behind me where I propped up the ship’s radio and said to Jamie on the inbound, ‘watch out, Jamie. I’m losing her,’ in which time she capsized, I dropped the radio, held onto the gyro, the ship capsized, I tried to ease the rudder, still trying to drive the ship,” he said.

Capt. Jonathan Tennant also said he saw fear in the faces around him, the crew members who were South Korean nationals. The rescue-team rescued twenty crew members within a few hours. Four remaining crew members stayed trapped in the engine room. The last person on board, Junyong Kim, was rescued about 36 hours after the accident.

However, Jason Neiman, the public affairs officer with the US Coast Guard, said the investigation on the vessel is complex and may take many months to find out the cause of what happened.

The plan to remove the stranded Golden Ray has also been prolonged because of the weather and COVID-19. Ten members of the rescue-crew tested positive for COVID-19, and 50 people have been quarantined. The plan has been paused until early October.

Ongoing support services have continued during the pause, including teams ensuring that any oil releases are quickly identified and remediated to the maximum extent possible.