When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.
I was on St. Simon's Island this weekend, and from many points a giant eyesore is visible off the coast. A gigantic container ship on its side. Last September (2019) it had not been long on a journey (from nearby Brunswick) and contained 4200 vehicles when its ballast computer failed and the 'pilot' promptly decided (wisely) to run the container ship aground where it fell over, destroying all the cars.
Since then, they've been planning and figuring out how to get rid of the ship. Many stories online about it including this:
there's also legal challenges between the island and the salvage company because of fluids from the cars that will likely end up in the water when/if the current plan is executed, which is to cut up the ship into slices!
anyway, can't imagine what all those cars smashed together in the hold looks like
some will be pleased though as they apparently were all hyundais and kias.
Last edited by bitkahuna; Mar 1, 2020 at 04:52 PM.
That's why shipping and trucking companies have LOTS of hazard-insurance. They would be fools not to....and it is (probably) legally required for a shipping-license. The captain and crew of a large ship also have liability-insurance that covers civil lawsuits stemming from decisions that they make if the ship and/or cargo are lost. In some cases, such as with gross negligence or intoxication, the captain or crew can even be charged criminally, like in the case of the Exxon Valdez tanker-disaster and the wreckage of the Italian cruise-ship Costa Concordia.
And that's one reason why (among several) why you are often paying $1000 or more for Destination/Freight charges on a new vehicle. That goes to cover not only the cost of actually shipping the vehicle itself on the train/truck/ship, but also the cost of the insurance protecting it.
Last edited by mmarshall; Mar 1, 2020 at 06:22 PM.
Agreed, Jill, it is sad, but lots more than that are lost when we have big flooding storms, particularly in coastal areas. Some of them, though, are (unscrupulously) put back on the market instead of totalled. That's why we have had entire Car Chat threads on how to inspect vehicles for flood-damage.
Thats going to be an interesting salvage operation...I watched off and on the progress of them salvaging and removing the Costa Concordia, this is a whole other level of difficult
In 2002 a car transporter ship sank in the English Channel with 3000 BMWs, SAABs and Volvos on it ($100 million worth). They cut it up on the sea bed and some of the photos are fascinating, showing BMWs, still strapped into place on the cargo decks, cut clean in half as the cutting tools have sliced up the hull.
In 2002 a car transporter ship sank in the English Channel with 3000 BMWs, SAABs and Volvos on it ($100 million worth). They cut it up on the sea bed and some of the photos are fascinating, showing BMWs, still strapped into place on the cargo decks, cut clean in half as the cutting tools have sliced up the hull.
thanks for sharing. some incredible photos and info on those sites!
The funny thing was, when I was looking for the story and came across the pictures I realised I recognised the large yellow floating crane Asian Hercules 2. Two years previously I stood on the quayside and watched it lift a new bridge into place. It's a massive crane and dwarfed the buildings around it. You don't get the true scale of it from the salvage pictures.
4200 cars destroyed in container ship disaster
