Live here. Ship was outbound at a rather sharp starboard turn in the channel. Another RoRo, Emerald Ace, was inbound at the same moment. Emerald Ace was going 15+ knots. Golden Ray was at 13. That’s a lot of closing speed in a very narrow and tricky part of the Brunswick port channel.
It appears that Golden Ray had to make a very sharp starboard turn to avoid. Did cargo shift? Perhaps.
Brunswick port was closed until Thursday evening after Dorian. There were six ships at anchor waiting to enter. RoRo port can handle only three. Bulk port two. Golden Ray sat out there for two days. Were they in a rush to make up time? Also, it was at the port for only seven hours. That’s an awfully short stop. Maybe a combination of several factors, which these incidents tend to be.
Obviously, I don’t know what happened to cause this, but I’ve been watching these things come and go for decades, and have been in and out of the sound countless times, and something looks off to me. In the end, four poor guys are missing, the port is closed and now oil is spilling, which will be an issue because the Georgia DNR did not deploy booms first thing this morning.
And again ships pile up at the sea buoy waiting to come in. Four out there right now. Who knows how long the port could be closed. They sure aren’t righting this thing anytime soon. Although it is currently resting on its side just south of the channel, mere yards from green 19.
Boats, not ships, may come and go as long as they stay .5 miles from site.