Salvage of Capsized Golden Ray in Georgia

Thanks. That was at least in parts answer to my question.

BTW; Smit Salvage has a branch in Houston:
SMIT Salvage Americas LLC
SMIT’s response centre Houston, U.S.A.

  • Doug Martin
  • [+1 281 3723500](tel:+1 281 3723500)
  • company.houston@smit.com
  • www.smit.com/contact
    I don’t know if they are listed on the “approved” salvor list in the US, or whether they have any major equipment at their disposal, but as a part of Boskalis they have access to shallow draft floating cranes with up to 3600 t. capacity, which can be transported to the site in a matter of weeks.

From memory of the removal of the car carrier Hyundai No. 105 in the Singapore Strait some years back took several months, as did the cutting up of the Tricolor. (Both done by Smit BTW)

Titan has some experience from rigthing capsized car carriers and some very large salvage operations around the world though.

But would say the Asian Hercules III, or the Taklift 6 etc. be allowed to operate inside US waters, even if that could speed up the operation and reopen the the port quicker? (Even if the present salvor brought them in)

They havey lift cranes would have no problem working in US waters, heck tetra keeps one or two tied up in fourchon all the time since the down turn.

As long as a foreign vessel is not taking cargo from one port to another or to an offshore installation or rig they can work.

As for companies mentions as leaders in salvage Resolve Marine is based out of Florida. Just saying…

My unsolicited speculation: not enough water depth to right the vessel even if the economics were favorable.
It will be fascinating to see how the wreck removal is performed. The setup for the New Carissa was clever with jackup rigs and essentially a ski lift to shore for ferrying pieces.

You mean this one, with lifting capacity of 1600 m.t. in tie-back:

I was thinking more on something like sheerleg crane barges like this one, with lifting capacity of 5000 m.t::
www.asianlift.com.sg › pdf › asian-hercules-III-5000mt-Capacity
(http://www.asianlift.com.sg/pdf/asian-hercules-III-5000mt-Capacity.pdf)
Paired up with her sister, the AH II with a lifting capacity of 3200 m.t.:
www.asianlift.com.sg › pdf › asian-hercules-II-3200mt-capacity
(http://www.asianlift.com.sg/pdf/asian-hercules-II-3200mt-capacity.pdf)

Or the Gulliver 2 x 2000 m.t.
http://www.scaldis-smc.com/en-GB/gulliver-is-ready-to-travel/6/10105/
Paired with Rambiz, 3300 m.t tandem lift:
http://www.scaldis-smc.com/en-GB/rambiz/31/

FYI:These two worked together for the salvage of the Norwegian frigate Helge Ingstad earlier this year.

There is no shortage of HLVs that could carry these simultaneously across the ocean.

Smit and Donjon are partners in the US and I believe it is a Smit salvage master, Sylvia Tervoort, in charge on site in Brunswick.

Titan is gone. Svitzer Salvage and Titan merged to form Ardent in 2015.

Thanks.
Ardvent was the third salvage company I was thinking of, not Resolve. The name just slipped my mind. Resolve doesn’t have heavy lifting facilities that would be useful here, I’m not sure if they have the same access to getting hold of some either.

Sylvia Tervoort:

To what ends, though? Despite assertions to the contrary by people I respect, she and her cargo look like scrap from where I’m sitting. What do you propose would be the benefit of removing the wreck in one piece for cutting somewhere else? Fragmenting, sorting and smelting the remains as locally as possible has undeniable efficiency benefits, and it will provide a whole bunch of local jobs. That makes the alternative a tough sell, IMHO.

She is a near new vessel and only partly submerged. I have not seen anything saying that the Underwriters or Owners have declared constructive total loss. (??)

Removing in one piece, regardless of after use, MAY be quicker and safer and allow the port to fully reopen quicker.

From previous cases; removing cargo and cutting in place have taken a very long time.The Hyundai No. 105 wreck removal took nearly 18 months.
I was not involved, but watched the process every time I passed the site to/from Batam. (I got some pictures of the sections as they were loaded on barges somewhere)

Of course most of the cargo will probably have to be removed to righten the GR, unless the cars were secured exceptionally well.

Update:

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Where did the cowboy angle come from. I did read it quickly.

It likely comes from the Wired article about the Cougar Ace.

High Tech Cowboys of the Deep Seas: The Race to Save the Cougar Ace.

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Just for the record:
Captain Rich Habib. of Titan Salvage, was killed on January 10, 2016, in a snowboard accident.

10/20 GA–St. Simons Sound RNA Amended:
MARINERS ARE STRONGLY ADVISED TO REDUCE THEIR WAKE AROUND CEDAR CREEK, IN THE BRUNSWICK HARBOR DUE TO SALVAGE AND BOOMING OPERATIONS IN THE VICINITY OF THE M/V GOLDEN RAY

The USCG District Seven is amending a temporary regulated navigation area (RNA) for navigable waters in St. Simons Sound, GA bounded by a line drawn from a point located at 31º07’48’‘N, 081º23’30’‘W, thence to 31º07’29’‘N, 081º23’37’‘W, thence to 31º07’38’‘N, 081º 24’10’‘W, thence to 1º07’22’‘N, 081º24’38’‘W, thence to 31º07’40’‘N, 081º25’01’‘W, thence to 31º08’07’‘N, 081º24’48’'W. Entry of vessels greater than 500 gross tons into this area is prohibited, unless specifically authorized by the Captain of the Port (COTP) Savannah. For further restrictions within the RNA contact the USCG COTP Savannah. Chart: 11502 (7th District LNM Week 42/2019)

The detail of those LiDAR scan images is pretty impressive. I’ve seen it used for BOPs and piping systems but it seems pretty useful for this application too. I wonder if by “inaccessible cargo holds” that means for safety reasons or they were submerged. Looks like some hang-fire danger from the cargo that hasn’t broken free yet.

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Yeah, I quit scrolling after reading about the rocks to slow the erosion, didn’t see the LiDAR images till now.

This photo looks like it was taken from inside a ventilation duct. Used cars I think based on the pickups have caps on them? Looks like they have shifted. Sometimes used cars don’t get lashed as well as new ones because the weights tend not to be calculated as carefully.

That LiDAR, just learned about that recently, used in forestry and mapping, almost creepy what they can see.

Also looks like they’ve burned too, unless they’ve started shipping cars with wheels but not tires.

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Somethere there are some photos of some high-end German cars being taken off a car ship with a front end loader after the ship went thought some heavy weather. A lot of the tires had been torn off as well as wheels and whole axles.

That was after a lot of heavy rolling, this one only went over once but it seems possible the tires may have been ripped off.