Crew drilled to safety in daring rescue
US Coast Guard rescuers pulled four trapped men alive from a capsized cargo ship, drilling into the hull’s steel plates to extract the crew members more than a day after their vessel overturned while leaving a Georgia port.
All four were described as alert and in relatively good condition and were taken to a hospital for further evaluation.
“Best day of my 16-year career,” said Lieutenant Lloyd Heflin, who was coordinating the effort. A video posted online by the Coast Guard showed responders clapping and cheering as the final man climbed out of a hole in the hull and stood up, three hours after the others.
The rescues followed nearly 36 hours of work after the Golden Ray, a giant ship that carries automobiles, rolled onto its side as it was leaving Brunswick, bound for Baltimore. Coast Guard Southeast tweeted: “Operations will now shift fully to environmental protection, removing the vessel and resuming commerce.”
Initially, 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.
Sounds helped lead rescuers to the right place on the 200m vessel to find the four South Koreans.
Rescuers rappelled down the hull, finding three men in a room close to the propeller shaft, near the bottom of the stern. Responders began drilling, starting with a 7.5cm hole. A ladder was inserted and they climbed out. The fourth crewman was behind glass in a separate compartment on another deck. —AP