The fire inside the wreck of the Golden Ray had been extinguished by the evening of Friday May 14th, the Unified Command (UC) has confirmed. No injuries were sustained. St Simons Sound Incident Response said that “responders increased their fire suppression efforts after smoke began emanating from the ship during pre-cutting operations. Pre-cutting operations involve the use of six-foot cutting torches and fire suppression systems are actively used during such operations. Wreck removal personnel were conducting pre-cutting along the cut groove for Section Three in order to direct the cutting chain away from thicker steel identified along the cut path during a routine inspection on Thursday.”
Lead salvage contractor T&T Salvage said crews would eventually gain access to the wreck to look at its structural integrity.
Matt Cooke of T&T Salvage said that “once we are able to access the site safely, we will conduct a thorough analysis of the structural integrity of the wreck as well as all wreck removal equipment”.