Answers: Why The Golden Ray capsized

 From an Associated Press story:

SAVANNAH, Ga. (AP) — A U.S. Coast Guard analysis found that a cargo ship overturned after departing a Georgia seaport because of unstable loading that left its center of gravity too high, making the vessel susceptible to rolling over, an expert told officials investigating the shipwreck Tuesday.

Coast Guard Lt. Ian Oviatt testified that his analysis found no fault with the design of the South Korean-owned Golden Ray. He said the ship lacked enough water in its ballast tanks, used to add weight at the bottom of a vessel, to offset that of 4,200 vehicles in its cargo decks above.

 

 

 

But once the Golden Ray began to capsize, there was likely little they could do, said Jeffrey Falzarano, a professor of ocean engineering for Texas A&M University who also testified Tuesday.

“Dealing with a vessel that’s unstable, it’s like trying to balance a pencil on its tip,” Falzarano said. "It’s very hard to do.”

 

The Golden Ray is owned by a Hyundai subsidiary and was carrying thousands of automobiles, but officials with the Hyundai plant in Montgomery told us the cars did not originate there.