I have now garnered enough information to render an opinion on the capsizing. Information was released that the protruded bow of the Roll On Roll Off (oversized ferry) caught the buoy chain as evidenced by witnesses and the fact that paint was scraped off the protruded bow to hull area. Second I find that the ship lies at 31?ø07'39"N 81?ø24'11"E and has a heading of 200???ø azimuth. I downloaded the Saint Simons Sound Channel Chart and those coordinates are very close to the Green "19" Buoy. Green are Port side channel markers, odd numbered heading upstream. The Golden Ray was heading downstream and there was another ship heading upstream, so Golden Ray was close to the Starboard limit of the channel heading out. It was on a heading of about 40?ø Azimuth and making a Starboard turn to about 100???ø when it caught G "19" which acted like an anchor stopping the bow of the ship, the stern continued in the turn and the ship turned at least 90?ø more than intended and tipped over. Improper ballast and cargo location may well have exacerbated the problem, but snagging the buoy chain and the abrupt turn started it. Salvage work will be complicated by the fact that the ship lies over a submerged cable area.
Paul in PA
81?ø24'11"W, you mean?
INTERESTING!
?ÿ
Thanks for the info!
Yep, my notes say West and just miss-labeled it. I have been compiling WWII Pacific Naval actions and have been Working with East and West longitudes and should have been more attuned to that.
Also, I have gotten a satellite image that shows the ship at about 165?ø azimuth not 200?ø, so it did not turn as sharply as I previously reported.
Paul in PA
I find it difficult to believe that a navigation buoy chain would be strong enough to stop and hold a 650' long fully-loaded cargo ship without breaking. Those buoys are set and maintained by much smaller ships.
As do I.?ÿ
Maybe it is was drilled and anchored into bedrock but what little I know of them is that they have a weight at the bottom to hold them in place and are routinely repositioned should the channel move.
