The Coast Guard's Unified Command is expected to have a detailed plan with an overall timeline and information about how they plan to get the Golden Ray cargo ship out of St. Simons Sound.
The ship, the length of two football fields, started listing and capsized in September. All 24 crew members on board were rescued. Since then, accessible oil, the propeller and the rudder were removed.
"It is a long process and you don’t see whole lot so it gets frustrating," Sue Inman, a member of the Altamaha Riverkeeper group, said. "It gets frustrating to the community since they speak directly to us, and the longer it sits in the water, the more of an impact it could have so that’s just our concern."
Questions surfaced again about a timeline regarding when the ship will be moved after a fire on board last weekend, and the safety of those working on moving it. The Unified Command said no one was hurt. The fire started when a piece of melted metal came in contact with flammable material.
It happened as the crews were cutting off material from the ship to prepare for the bigger process of moving the ship, according to Assistant Safety Officer, Aaron McClellan. He said crews put it out within minutes.
"We were able to mitigate any further incident, plus we were able to catch any of the runoff so any of the material that may have come out from the vessel from putting water on it," he said.
McClellan said the fire won't affect the next steps moving forward. He said part of the quick response was thanks to fireboats that are always on standby around the ship.
"It was really great to know that the response was really on top of it and that they're using water to put the fire out, because using the foam is a big environmental concern that we have, but so far they’ve just been focusing on the water and that has been working," Inman said
"The goal of this entire incident from the beginning through now through the end of this has been the safety of the workers out there first and foremost, and the safety of the public of course and protecting the environment," McClellan said.
The detailed plan McClellan said they plan to release in about a week will first go out to the stakeholders in the project for approval, then out to the public. Groups from all over the world are working on the project, he said. Texas T&T Salvage is the lead salvage company on the project.
"[The plan will have] the steps for how we're going to, again, handle this incident safely, as minimum impact to the environment as possible and move it as quickly as possible," McClellan said.
Part of that plan includes cutting the ship into eight pieces, then bringing each piece ashore one at a time with an environmental protection barrier around the ship, McClellan said. That barrier will be around the ship any time crews cut parts of it, all mechanically driven.
McClellan said floating containment booms remain in place in case of any runoff. As far as asbestos concerns on the ship, McClellan said it is a newer ship.
"The asbestos has been minimal if any," he said. "It’s certainly taken into consideration along with the safety of all of the responders."
"It is our number one goal, our number one mission, so before we have any of that, the environmental impacts, but the safety of our personnel out there is going to be paramount," McClellan said.
McClellan wouldn't comment on the status of the investigation regarding how the ship ended up on its side.