Vehicle carrier Golden Ray capsizes and blocks the Brunswick channel

Name: Measured effect: Vehicle carrier Golden Ray capsizes and blocks the Brunswick channel
Creator: World Freight Monitor
License: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Vehicle carrier Golden Ray capsizes and blocks the Brunswick channel. The disruption ran from 2019-09-08 (8 September 2019) to 2019-11-14 (14 November 2019), 68 days, affecting Brunswick. Brunswick averaged 1.2 calls per day during the event window against an expected 0.9 (+0.3).

Key facts

Started: 2019-09-08 (8 September 2019)
Ended: 2019-11-14 (14 November 2019)
Status: ended
Type: Collision or casualty
Severity: 2 Moderate
Scope: port
Chokepoints: None
Ports: Brunswick
Lanes: None
Countries: United States
Confidence: medium: The casualty, the rescue and the cause are documented by the Coast Guard and the safety board, but the dates on which traffic resumed rest on press reporting of unified command decisions rather than an archived official notice.
First reported: 2019-09-08 (8 September 2019)
Casualties (official): 0 deaths, 2 injuries, as of 2021-09-14 [s2]

Severity basis: Port wide stoppage of 24 hours to seven days; the Port of Brunswick was closed to commercial traffic from 2019-09-08 until transits resumed on a case by case basis on 2019-09-11, with one way transits until 2019-11-14.

What happened

On 2019-09-08 (8 September 2019) the vehicle carrier Golden Ray capsized in St. Simons Sound shortly after leaving the Port of Brunswick, Georgia, with a fire on board, closing the sound and the port to commercial traffic. The Coast Guard reported that all 24 people on board were rescued, four of them after being trapped in the hull, and set a safety zone half a mile around the wreck. Two cargo ships were allowed to leave under monitored transit late on 2019-09-11, and the port reopened on a case by case basis, with cargo that could be diverted sent to Savannah and Charleston. The channel stayed limited to one way traffic while salvage continued, and round the clock commercial transits resumed on 2019-11-14 (14 November 2019).

Measured effect

Port calls, Brunswick

Baseline (expected): 0.9 calls per day
Observed: 1.2 calls per day
Change: +0.3 (percent omitted, baseline too small)
Standardised score: +0.3
Event window: 2019-09-08 to 2019-11-14 (68 days)
Baseline window: 2019-07-07 to 2019-08-31 (56 valid days)
Method: wfm-effect-1.0
Computed: 2026-09-19 (19 September 2026), data revision 1:cf0cab396ff2

Source: IMF PortWatch (portwatch.imf.org), International Monetary Fund, using UN Global Platform AIS data. Statistics derived by World Freight Monitor. Terms.

This is a measured change in public data during the event window, compared with a baseline before it. It shows timing, not cause. We describe an event as causing a change only when an official source says so.

Timeline

2019-09-08The 656 foot vehicle carrier capsizes in St. Simons Sound at about 02:00 with a fire on board. The Coast Guard rescues 20 people, four crew members remain trapped, and the Captain of the Port sets a safety zone half a mile around the vessel. [s1]
2019-09-09The four trapped crew members are rescued after nearly 40 hours in the hull, according to the safety board, bringing all 24 people on board to safety. [s2]
2019-09-11Two cargo vessels leave the port under monitored transit past the wreck, the first movements since the capsizing. [s4]
2019-09-12The port reopens on a case by case basis, with priority for perishable cargo and other vessels diverted to Savannah and Charleston while the unified command studies how passing ships affect the wreck. [s3] [s4]
2019-11-14The unified command and the Georgia Ports Authority restore round the clock commercial transits, with vessels still passing the wreck one at a time. [s5] [s6]
2021-09-14The safety board publishes its report, finding that an error in entering ballast quantities into the stability program left the ship with too little righting arm during an outbound turn. [s2]

Cause

The National Transportation Safety Board determined that the probable cause was an officer's error in entering ballast quantities into the ship's stability calculation program, which led to an incorrect stability assessment and left the vessel without enough righting arm during a turn outbound from Brunswick. The operator's failure to verify stability calculations contributed. Attributed by: National Transportation Safety Board. [s2]

Resolution

2019-11-14 (14 November 2019): Transits past the wreck resumed on a case by case basis from 2019-09-11 and the Port of Brunswick returned to round the clock commercial traffic on 2019-11-14, with vessels passing one at a time while the Golden Ray was dismantled in place. [s5] [s6]

Corrections

No corrections to this record as of 2026-09-16 (16 September 2026).

Sources

[s1] U.S. Coast Guard, Coast Guard, port partners conducting rescue operation for 4 aboard disabled, on fire vessel in St. Simons Sound, published 2019-09-08 (8 September 2019), accessed 2026-09-15. Archived copy. (official)
[s2] National Transportation Safety Board, NTSB Determines Inaccurate Stability Calculations Caused Capsizing of Vehicle Carrier Golden Ray, published 2021-09-14 (14 September 2021), accessed 2026-09-15. Archived copy. (official)
[s3] The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, NEW DETAILS: Brunswick port reopens days after ship capsizes, published 2019-09-12 (12 September 2019), accessed 2026-09-15. Archived copy. (press)
[s4] News4Jax, 1st ships allowed to pass capsized car carrier near Port of Brunswick, published 2019-09-12 (12 September 2019), accessed 2026-09-15. Archived copy. (press)
[s5] FreightWaves, Port of Brunswick open 24 hours to commercial vessels, published 2019-11-18 (18 November 2019), accessed 2026-09-15. Archived copy. (press)
[s6] WorkBoat, Traffic expanded around capsized Golden Ray in Georgia, published 2019-11-19 (19 November 2019), accessed 2026-09-15. Archived copy. (press)