On Thursday, contractors are scheduled to begin construction of an environmental protection barrier (EPB) around the car carrier Golden Ray, almost six months after the ship grounded in St. Simons Sound, Georgia.
The pile-driving operation is the first phase in the construction of the EPB, St. Simons Sound Incident Response contractors informed.
Weeks Marine workers will now begin the process of driving about 80 piles into the sea floor over an estimated one-month period. The pile-driving operations will be limited to daylight hours.
The EPB will include a large floating containment barrier to help contain surface pollutants, as well as large netting to contain subsurface debris.
‘Golden Ray’ capsized in St. Simons Sound, Brunswick, Georgia, on September 8, leaving four of its crew members unaccounted for.
Recently, fire broke out on the wreck of the ro-ro Golden Ray, while contractors were contacting welding operations inside the ship.
Luckily, the fire was contained within the hull and was quickly put out by the contractor’s fireboat.
The Unified Command for the St. Simons Sound Incident Response is comprised of the US Coast Guard as the federal on scene coordinator, Georgia Department of Natural Resources as the state on scene coordinator, and Gallagher Marine Systems as the incident commander for the responsible party.