T&T Salvage denies claims in Golden Ray lawsuit

Jun. 16—The salvor of the shipwrecked Golden Ray, denying responsibility for any damages that may have resulted from the salvaging process, says it may sue the vessel's owner should it become necessary.

Texas-based T&T Salvage filed a motion stating as much on June 8 in U.S. District Court in Brunswick.

The filing is in response to a lawsuit Glynn County filed in late March in federal court.

The county suit claims environmental degradation and financial losses as a result of the shipwreck of the 656-foot-long vessel in the St. Simons Sound in September 2019, as well as during the grueling 11-month salvage operation that wrapped up in October 2021. The county's lawsuit names the ship's South Korean owner, GL NV24 Shipping Inc., T&T and others, including Hyundai Glovis Co., G-Marine Service Co. and Norton Lilly International.

The Golden Ray and its cargo of 4,161 vehicles capsized in the predawn hours of Sept. 8, 2019, in the water between St. Simons and Jekyll islands, lodging itself on a sandbar beside the Port of Brunswick shipping channel. Oil hemorrhaged from the half-submerged shipwreck and into the sound and surrounding inland waters in the weeks following the shipwreck.

T&T employed a 255-foot-tall crane vessel and massive cutting chains to tear the shipwreck into eight pieces for removal, a messy process that began Nov. 6, 2020, and was completed Oct. 25, 2021. The mission created several oil spills from the shipwreck's fuel tanks, including significant releases in late May and late July of 2021.

A fire resulting from the salvage operation engulfed the exposed starboard side of the shipwreck in flames and thick smoke on May 14, 2021.

The ship's owner hired T&T in January 2020, dismissing the contracted salvager, DonJon-SMIT. DonJon-SMIT proposed dismantling the shipwreck into smaller sections, a process it claimed would be more controlled and less susceptible to environmental damage.

DonJon-SMIT immediately sued in federal court but lost.

In its filing last week, T&T Salvage said its contract with GL NV24 holds the shipping company responsible for any damage that may have resulted from its salvage operation.

"Under the Wreckhire Contract, GL NV24 has a contractual obligation to defend, indemnify and hold harmless T&T against claims asserted in the underlying lawsuit," the filing stated.

The filing was submitted by Savannah attorney Colin A. McRae.

Should T&T be found liable in the county's lawsuit, the salvage company indicated it will sue GL NV24.

"To the extent that T&T incurs any liability to plaintiff with respect to the allegations in plaintiff's live petition, T&T sues GL NV24 as being liable for their own act and/or omissions causing or contributing to any alleged injury or damage, for contribution for any such liability on the part of T&T," the filing said.

The filing noted the ship's owner is held responsible by the Oil Pollution Act of 1990, as well as Georgia environmental laws. Established in response to the Exxon Valdez oil spill in 1989, the Oil Pollution Act ensures that environmental protection regulations are met in such operations and holds a ship's owner and insurer financially responsible.

In September 2021, a London-based insurance industry magazine estimated the Golden Ray's salvage costs at $842 million and climbing.

The county's lawsuit seeks money for its costs to clean public lands, damage to public and private lands, lost tax revenue and lost tourism dollars, among other things. The county's lawsuit holds the ship's crew and its owner responsible for the Golden Ray's capsizing. It also claims T&T's operation caused "repeated fires causing discharges of debris and hazards fluids ... throughout the duration of the wreck removal."

An investigation by the National Transportation Safety Board and the U.S. Coast Guard concluded in September 2021 that the Golden Ray's crew committed errors that contributed to the capsizing. It said the ship was top heavy because of insufficient ballast and cargo stored too high.

T&T further stated in its filing that "damages, if any, were caused by GL NV24's own negligence associated with the ownership, operation, management, maintenance and/or control of M/V Golden Ray."

In December 2021, the state Environmental Protection Division levied a $3 million fine against the Golden Ray's owner, the agency's largest ever fine.