{"id":23563,"date":"2019-09-09T21:41:24","date_gmt":"2019-09-09T21:41:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/uncategorized\/2019\/09\/09\/rescuers-pull-3-from-capsized-cargo-ship-1-still-trapped\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T19:15:07","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T19:15:07","slug":"rescuers-pull-3-from-capsized-cargo-ship-1-still-trapped","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/news\/your-navy\/2019\/09\/09\/rescuers-pull-3-from-capsized-cargo-ship-1-still-trapped\/","title":{"rendered":"Rescuers pull last trapped crew member off capsized cargo ship"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

JEKYLL ISLAND, Ga. \u2014 The fourth and last crew member trapped inside a capsized cargo ship off the coast of Georgia has been rescued.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Coast Guard Lt. Lloyd Heflin told The Associated Press in a text message that the South Korean crew member was rescued just before 6 p.m. Monday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He says the crew member appears to be in good medical condition but is being evaluated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Three other crew members were rescued earlier Monday from the Golden Ray, more than a day after the vessel overturned while leaving a port on the Georgia coast.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Coast Guard leaders had vowed to save the fourth mariner at an earlier news conference in nearby Brunswick.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe same experts who got us to where we are right now are going to find a way to extract him,\u201d Coast Guard Sector Charleston commander Capt. John Reed<\/a> said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Coast Guard and salvage crews extracted the remaining four Golden Ray mariners on Monday in St. Simons Sound near Brunswick, Georgia. They were transported by a Coast Guard Station Brunswick 45-foot Response Boat-Medium boat crew to Glenn County EMS for medical evaluation. (Coast Guard)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The rescue followed nearly 36 hours of work<\/a> after the Golden Ray, a giant ship that carries automobiles, rolled onto its side early Sunday<\/a> as it was leaving Brunswick, bound for Baltimore.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the hours immediately after the accident, the Coast Guard lifted 20 crew members into helicopters before determining that smoke and flames and unstable cargo made it too risky to venture further inside the vessel. Officials were also concerned about the stability of the ship, which was carrying 4,000 vehicles, some of which may have broken loose.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That left responders looking for the remaining four crew members. At first, Reed said, rescuers were not sure whether the noises they were hearing inside were some of the vehicles crashing around. But by dawn Monday, they had grown confident that the taps were responses to their own taps, indicating someone was alive inside.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“It was outstanding when I heard the news this morning that we had taps back throughout the night,” Reed said, saying it helped lead rescuers to the right place on the 656-foot (200 meter) vessel, and provided motivation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“They were charged up knowing the people were alive,” Reed said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The Golden Ray is a Marshall Islands-flagged vehicles carrier built in 2017. (AP)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

On Monday morning, rescuers landed on the side of the Golden Ray and rappelled down the hull.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lt. Heflin, who was coordinating the search, said they found three men in a room close to the propeller shaft, near the bottom of the stern.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Responders began drilling, starting with a 3-inch (7.5-centimeter) hole. Coast Guard officials brought the ship\u2019s chief engineer, who was rescued Sunday, out to the ship to translate, and found the three men were \u201con board and OK,\u201d as Heflin put it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Reed said rescuers passed food and water through the hole to the men. It also provided fresh air to the propeller room, which Reed said was even hotter than outside, where the high was 93 degrees (34 Celsius).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Responders set up a tent on the hull and began drilling additional holes, eventually making an opening large enough to insert a ladder and help the men climb out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“It was like connect-the-dots,” Reed said of the hole, which grew to 2 feet by 3 feet (0.6 meters by 1 meter).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Golden Ray is now stuck in the shipping channel, closing one of the busiest U.S. seaports for shipping automobiles. One ship is unable to leave port and four more are lined up outside waiting to come in, according to ship-tracking website Marine Traffic<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\t