Beginning Soon: Slicing Up A Massive Ship, The Golden Ray

The Brunswick News reported about the chain "cutting" process:

Already in place at regular increments...are the chains that will do the cutting.

“The cuts are going to be made by large sections of anchor chain,” Witt said. “We say ‘cut’ but it’s really going to be a ripping process through the hull.”

The seven chains were placed in specific locations on the hull, fed through crane-bored holes in the seabed beneath the Golden Ray. Divers attached the chains to awaiting cranes on the other side to complete the process. Each chain link weighs 80 pounds, is 18 inches long and 8 inches across.

To complete the big picture, imagine a structure taller than the road surface of the Sidney Lanier Bridge straddling the shipwreck.

 That would be the VB 10,000, the dual-hulled arching crane barge that will do the cutting and lifting. The VB 10,000 will arrive from Texas in July, entering the barrier through a gate on the seaward side that will be closed off with netting afterward.

Winches on the VB 10,000 will power the chains as they tear through the hull. Each cut will take about 24 hours, a process that cannot stop until completed once it commences. This should be an exceptionally loud process, particularly when the chains progress above the water’s surface in each cut.