Sept. 10 (UPI) — All four of the crew members of a South Korean cargo vessel were rescued from their ship’s hull on Monday after it turned onto its side off the coast of Georgia, U.S. authorities said.
The U.S. Coast Guard shared photos and video of the final crew member being removed from the ship, which caught fire Sunday in the St. Simons Sound near Brunswick, Ga., near the Atlantic Ocean.
Three were rescued earlier in the day, but the fourth was separated from the others by glass in an engineering control room and remained trapped on the vessel until Monday evening.
Coast Guard Capt. John Reed said all of the crew members would be treated by emergency services in Georgia.
The Coast Guard said it first made contact with the crew on Monday, a day after a USCG Savannah helicopter helped rescue 20 other crew members of the 656-foot vehicle carrier. The search on Sunday was ultimately suspended when fiery conditions became too dangerous.
They were trapped inside the disabled vessel and Coast Guard crews were able to drill a hole in the ship to deliver supplies.
The South Korea-flagged Hyundai Glovis cargo ship was carrying about 4,000 vehicles when it turned onto its side, government officials in Seoul said. Six Koreans, 13 Filipinos and a U.S. citizen were rescued before the Coast Guard made contact with the remaining four in the engine room Monday.
“USCG and salvage crews are developing an extraction plan to safely rescue the four #Golden Ray crew members,” the USCG said. “This is a slow, but safe process.”
