During Christmas, salvors started the second cut on the hull of the grounded Golden Ray. The ship will be cut into eight sections; the first one took place on November 29.
In this second cut, salvors made preliminary cuts along the expected path of the cutting chain, aiming to reduce the load, They have also spent weeks modifying the cutting setup, applying lessons learned from the first round.
We are confident that the time invested to implement modifications to the cutting apparatus as well as perform critical maintenance to the wreck removal equipment will contribute to a safe and efficient cutting operation. We are ready to mitigate expected debris and other potential threats
said Incident Commander Chris Graff of Gallagher Marine Systems.
In addition, to ensure safety, the team asked local drone operators not to fly over the scene to capture imagery of the process. For this reason, the response command has released video and imagery of its own to show recent progress.
The first (bow) section has left for a recycling yard in Louisiana aboard a large deck barge, without waiting for the removal of the second (stern) segment.
The loose wrecked cars within the bow section were secured for sea before departure.
