Fire broke out on the wreck of the ro-ro Golden Ray in St. Simons Sound on January 19. When the fire started 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.
Crews on Monday, January 6 2020, placed the 150-ton section of the capsized vessel M/V Golden Ray inside Reef SFC approximately 20 miles east-southeast of St. Simons Island, after all materials were inspected for cleanliness, to be used as an artificial reef for maritime species.
Swedish Club’s Navigational Claims 2020 issue focuses on collision incidents, this time presenting a collision caused after a vessel’s grounding, believed to have been caused because the master did not follow the passage plan as is.
Lightering operations are now taking place for the stranded freighter CDRY Blue, after it ran aground on a rocky shore in Sant’Antioco, Sardinia on December 21. Smit Salvage is the lead salvor, and it is overseeing the work in collaboration with the Italian Coast Guard and the local port authority.
A cargo ship drifted on a beach in southern Israel on Thursday, January 2, due to the heavy winds and stormy conditions that forced the vessel away from its anchor point near the port of Ashdod, Israel. The vessel called “Zelek Star” was transmitting cement and additional products from Greece to Israel when it swept away and drifted onto Oranim Beach.
On December 21, Saturday, the bulker vessel “CDRY Blue” went aground on a rocky shore on the coast of Sardinia, Italy, leading to the Italian Coast Guard (Guardia Costiera) launching a rescue operation for those onboard.
The Liberian-flagged cargo ship “Songa Iridium” experienced engine failure while voyaging south in the Bosphorus, which lead to the vessel running aground ashore in Istanbul, Turkey. Specifically, the incident took place on Friday, December 27. During that time, the vessel had 19 crewmembers onboard, as well as a pilot.
The Russian cargo ship ‘Kuzma Minin’ that ran aground off Cornwall a year ago is still kept under detention in UK, according to the latest update on list detentions by UK MCA. The ship was detained shortly after grounding off Falmouth in December 2018.
US Coast Guard Sector Virginia suspended the Merchant Mariner Credential of a ship’s captain, after finding out that he was operating the vessel under the influence of alcohol during an accident that caused the vessel to run aground. The tugboat Niki Jo C drifted off course and ran aground outside the main channel of the Rappahannock River, on November 14, 2019.
Notably, salvors have finished removing all the fuel from the tanks accessible on the capsized car carrier Golden Ray. It is said that more than 320,000 gallons of oil and water mixture were removed, while the St. Simons Sound Unified Command is still carrying out a forensic investigation in order to establish an accurate measure of the fuel onboard at the time of the incident and the amount discharged into the environment.
