Port of Brunswick closed

[ssobol]

You'd think that they would just be able to roll it upright (still sitting on the bottom) and then put pontoons or lift casings on both sides to lift it high enough to move somewhere to scrap it.

 

[O C Diver]

I wonder if the choice to cut it up there was based on local environmental risk liability. What I mean by that was that every salvage has risk, but where it is probably has a lot to do with punitive damages if the salvage goes bad. I can envision a number of places in the USA where failure would be treated more sympathetically. As an observer, it seems that they should be able to right it, but I guess no insurance company wants an environmental cleanup liability like the Exxon Valdez.

Ted

 

[BandB]

No. It was just stated that the engineers and other experts don’t see a way to do it intact. Now I am no expert in these things, but I could never see a way to re-float a ship that size in 25 feet of water.

On the other hand, we are all very unclear as to how they avoid an environmental mess going this route. There are literally tens of thousands of sources of pollutants on this ship. 4,200 cars. Each has a small amount of gas. Engine oil. HVAC coolant. Windshield washer fluid. Batteries. Etc.

Then there is the ship itself with all of its systems.

Having said that, there appears to be a very concerted effort by all involved to avoid this scenario. Who knows. Perhaps they are working on a way to disassemble in some fashion other than cutting into 9 pieces we have seen with other Ro Ro ships. All I do know is that we will get to watch since she is only a few hundred yards from shore.

I'm wondering if they're going to cut in layers somehow, removing cars along the way, and use the cutting to make the removal of the cars easier. I know nothing about this business so purely speculative questions.

 

[mcboatface]

I had a long, lovely walk on the beach today and spent some time thinking about the Golden Ray, a few hundred yards away, and the decision to dismantle her rather than attempt to re-float her.

Allow me to preface this with a disclaimer. I am not an engineer, nor a marine salvage expert, nor a nuclear scientist. This is pure speculation.

The Golden Ray is currently sitting on the bottom of St Simons Sound at an angle of greater than 90 degrees as shown in the photo I posted a few days ago. The Costa Concordia came to rest on the rocks in Giglio at a 70 degree angle.

As we have seen previously, Ro Ro ships are not the most stable vessels and thus lack in righting moment, or arm, whichever is the correct expression. Again, not an expert in these things. Thus, it occurs to me that the force required to try to rotate a 71,000 ton vessel very, very far from its righting point or CG, would be beyond belief. It seems that the force required would be substantially greater than the hull could survive.

And, of course, that doesn’t even take into account the fact that there is not enough water, on average, under the ship to float, even if she were magically righted. She sits approximately 150 feet from the edge of the channel with enough depth to float.

The Costa Concordia not only came to rest at a lesser angle to upright, but she was undoubtedly a more stable vessel as built. And while she was resting on two rock outcroppings on her starboard side, she was also resting on a fairly steep slope which means there was much more water under her port side. This gave the salvage engineers a lot more options, including building an undersea platform.

Anyway, just some food for thought as us locals try to comprehend what’s ahead of us. Surely, any form of dismantling will require significantly more assets than are here now. Watching videos about previous Ro Ro ships that were not able to be re-floated show massive cranes and other salvage assets deployed.

The location, between a critical channel and shallow water, will undoubtedly make this a very challenging operation.

 

[Comodave]

It is too bad because no matter how careful they are there will be some impact on the environment. Hopefully it will not be too bad.

 

[Cigatoo]

I see Atlantic Enterprise sitting in the Fancy Bluff Creak. Is that anyone we know?

 

[Sailor of Fortune]

Atlantic Enterprise is hiding from wx on the #2 mooring while all the crane barges, oil barge and tugs are in the port until wx moderates alongside the wreck.

 

[AlaskaProf]

dismantling...assets, cranes

Search: New Carissa especially the final removal.

 

[Wayfarer]

I find that I enjoyed weather delays more when I wasn't the skipper. Used to be easy money, hanging out in the pilothouse, catching up on paperwork, telling sea stories with the AB, and playing with my phone.

Now I'm in my office pacing, wondering if I'm just being a big wimp, lol.

 

[Action]

On the other hand, we are all very unclear as to how they avoid an environmental mess going this route. There are literally tens of thousands of sources of pollutants on this ship. 4,200 cars. Each has a small amount of gas. Engine oil. HVAC coolant. Windshield washer fluid. Batteries. Etc.

I thought I saw some where the side of the ship would be cut open and the cars would be extracted.

I know little about shipping. And a lot about new cars and how they are moved on land. The cars would have been strapped down. However the forces generated in this event will likely exceed the holding power of the method holding the cars. Nearly all if not all of the cars will be a total loss. And I am sure the interior of the ship isn't that stable either. Extracting the cars will be hazardous. Since the cars may no longer be secured to the decking and only gravity is the security. Righting the ship would be LIKE dealing with massive amounts of fluid that shifts uncontained. I am not sure how one would calculate the weight shift of this unsecured load. These vehicles will move and are significant in weight movement that is not consistent for all vehicles. For extraction, some cars will be partially secured or totally secured and that attachment has to be removed before the car can be removed out of the ship. Which means some one has to go down there. Versus a crane with a B A magnet.

As mentioned above there are the fluids in those cars. In an intact car some systems are sealed and some are vented.
Fuel, brake fluid, manual transmission fluid and coolant are in sealed systems. Depending on vehicle damage it Is unlikely these fluids would leak out.
Battery acid, windshield washer fluid, power steering fluid and automatic transmission fluid are not in sealed systems. Venting for these systems (with no damage) are sources of slow leaks. In quantity transmission fluid may be the greatest amount of uncontained fluid.* And it has been a month and will be more months before these vehicles are removed. So the lethal cocktail of fluids will not only be acidic but they will be flammable and can remove friction for movement (slipping) especially at the lower parts of the ship. Time was critical for fluid migration. The horse has left the bard at this point.

Yeah it's gonna be a mess

*Some of these vehicles will have electric power steering and non-flood batteries which will reduce the chemical hazards.

 

[oscar]

Guess they're waiting 'till the batteries are all dead?

 

[Cigatoo]

Atlantic Enterprise is hiding from wx on the #2 mooring while all the crane barges, oil barge and tugs are in the port until wx moderates alongside the wreck.

Thanks for that. I realize there is a gag order out. Keep notes on the project and fill us in when you can. I’ll bet that the engineering taking place is simply amazing.

 

[mcboatface]

Just back from the pier and a quick look out into the Sound. Assets are back on station now that the storm has passed. Latest _unofficial_ info is that the Golden Ray is now sitting 12’ down into the mud. It’s easy to see that she is sitting much lower than she was originally.

Also heard that the middle of the ship is now sagging enough to be concerning. Some minor structural issues have been detected related to the sag. It seems that the salvage job is getting more complex as time passes. Lots and lots of challenges here.

Largest marine cranes available are being considered but some are awfully far away, like on the other side of the planet. Ability to get assets will have some impact on how the dismantling proceeds. The experts are still considering anything from 9 pieces to over 30 depending on structural integrity, lift capability and other things way above my pay grade. I believe three different techniques are being considered for the cutting phase.

What is more clear is that this operation will be ongoing for a very long time. Now hearing at least 18 months. I think it will be quite a bit longer before every piece is removed and the sea floor cleaned, but that is pure speculation.

If you would like a live view, check out
https://www.goldenisles.com/discover/webcams/

Choose the St Simons Pier Village camera.

 

[mcboatface]

Latest news from the Unified Command this morning. We have been hearing a lot about scouring around the ship, so this update is not too surprising:

"Unified Command response crews will strategically place rocks next to the hull of the M/V Golden Ray to slow down erosion around the vessel starting October 28, 2019.

Strong area tidal currents in the sound have been causing erosion and transporting sediment. Once the vessel is completely dismantled and transferred out of the sound, the rocks will be removed using excavators with sieve buckets.

Trucks are delivering approximately 6,000 tons of rock from several rock quarries located within the state of Georgia. When operations begin, the rock will be transported by barge and placed on the seafloor using knuckle boom excavators and GPS for accuracy. Sonar technology will be used to guide the placement of the 1-to-3 inch aggregate rocks next to the hull of the vessel in real time."

I figure that's about 400 truck loads of rock, assuming 15 tons per load. Wow.

 

[mcboatface]

The Unified Command recently posted these cool images from inside the Golden Ray. They were created using lidar radar 3D imaging as the decks themselves remain inaccessible.

The first one is deck 4 and the other two are deck 9. They were taken a few weeks ago but just released publicly.

Anyone for a great deal on an almost new Kia?

 

[ben2go]

I think they have an idea were the fire was even if they don't know where it started.

 

[oscar]

Having spent the first 25 years of my life in Holland I'm wondering if building a "polder" (dyke around the ship and pump out the water) would be feasible. This would make it a land operation. A pier to dock barges and a large crane inside..... chop chop away.....

 

[twistedtree]

Having spent the first 25 years of my life in Holland I'm wondering if building a "polder" (dyke around the ship and pump out the water) would be feasible. This would make it a land operation. A pier to dock barges and a large crane inside..... chop chop away.....

I've been wondering the same thing. I imagine keeping the whole boat stable while working on it must be one of the biggest challenges. A big coffer dam around the whole ship could be interesting. But I'm sure it's been considered and that we aren't the first people to think of it.

 

[wkearney99]

Cofferdams are interesting but I'd think putting one in that location would be problematic due to weather exposure, tide and wave conditions. That and the sheer size. Also, bottom conditions, with lots of deep mud, are probably too terrible for land vehicles even if you could surround and protect the area.

I cannot imagine the scale of "holy hell, this is bad" that would involve disassembling a vessel like this in-place under those conditions.

 

[geoleo]

I wonder if those powerful electric powered magnets will work under salt water??

 

[psneeld]

Gray day for salvage in Brunswick....

 

[psneeld]

Might be a pot of gold there though

 

[psneeld]

Someone's office...

 

[oscar]

I wonder if those powerful electric powered magnets will work under salt water??

Yes.

 

[oscar]

Some insurance guy is chewing a LOT of Maalox.....

 

[FlyWright]

Someone's office...

Nice shot! Where's the new dink, SOF? Left it at the dock?

 

[mcboatface]

Cofferdams are interesting but I'd think putting one in that location would be problematic due to weather exposure, tide and wave conditions. That and the sheer size. Also, bottom conditions, with lots of deep mud, are probably too terrible for land vehicles even if you could surround and protect the area.

I cannot imagine the scale of "holy hell, this is bad" that would involve disassembling a vessel like this in-place under those conditions.

Correct. I believe this concept was looked at and rejected for the reasons you state. And yes, this is a very, very challenging situation all around.

While I am sure the removal of the Tricolor in the English Channel was really tough, it wasn’t just a few hundred yards from environmentally sensitive marshland and a bird sanctuary. Much more room for error.

It seems nearly impossible to remove this ship without significant impact. The fact that the Unified Command keeps stating over and over that some environmental impact is inevitable is making everyone around here fairly nervous. Needless to say, this area is dependent on tourist trade and clean beaches are critical.

On the other hand, late this week, many thousands of kids will descend upon our small island for the annual GA-FL football game. They will gawk at the ship and then get right back to drinking their body weight. Sadly, I will miss much of the fun as I am heading to FLIBS Tuesday.

I took this photo today. Yes, that’s how close she lies to the beach.

 

[wkearney99]

So close, yet so far...

As for the environment, well, lots of places have had their share of pollution and have recovered. It's best avoided, of course, but it's doesn't have to be a 'game over' scenario.

I suppose the only upside is the beach season is coming to a close, more or less, so there will potentially be time to allow for clean up, should much/any be necessary.

 

[AlaskaProf]

I suspect the New Carissa case in Oregon will be the model. After years of trying every wrong way imaginable, towing, gunfire, burning, they built a platform over it, carved it up and hauled it away one chunk at a time. ...and they did it in the surfline on an open coast.

 

[oscar]

I still think there's a few Dutch engineering firms that would have a road out there and a dam around the thing in a matter of weeks.... (seen it done in much, much more challenging situations, hell half the country is below sea level and the North Sea is a fierce opponent). Yes it would be very expensive. But that points out that the "Some environmental impact is unavoidable" outcome is subject to economic decisions.