The MV Golden Ray was a 200-metre long (660 ft) roll-on/roll-off cargo ship designed to carry automobiles that capsized on 8 September 2019 in St. Simons Sound near the Port of Brunswick in Georgia, United States.

[1]: 11  She then was scheduled to sail to Baltimore, Wilmington, Beirut, Jeddah, Sohar, Jebel Ali, Dammam, and Kuwait.

[5] When she left Brunswick, the vessel was carrying approximately 4,300 brand new Kia and Hyundai cars[6][7] manufactured in Mexico, and vehicles made by other companies including Chevrolet, GMC, GM, Mercedes-Benz, and Ram[8] to Baltimore, Maryland;[9] some were destined for delivery to the Middle East.

[12]: 4  Water began to enter the vessel through the open pilot door, flooding the engine and steering gear rooms; as tugboats pushed the ship out of the deep channel, she came to rest on her port side.

[14] At approximately 04:30 EDT, first responders noticed smoke and flames erupting from the starboard side, as a fire was consuming the vehicles inside the ship; the toxic smoke and heat prevented further rescue operations for approximately 24 hours until the fire had burned itself out.

[17][18] The incident was suspected to be related to a sudden loss of stability, possibly due to cargo stowage and incorrect water ballasting.

[19] A Hyundai Glovis executive told the news media that "there was some kind of an internal fire that could not be controlled and then it capsized".

[11] In September 2020, the USCG held a public hearing to gather factual evidence and testimony for the Marine Board of Investigation into the capsizing of the M/V Golden Ray, chaired by Captain Blake Welborn.

[23] A final NTSB report, adopted 26 August 2021, determined the cause of sinking to be a combination of factors.

[12]: v  The incorrect entries meant the program did not compute the proper levels for ballast tanks, which left the ship unstable as she made a sharp turn when exiting the channel.

[12] In November 2019, The New York Times quoted Fletcher Sams, the executive director of the Altamaha Riverkeeper, a nonprofit that monitors pollution in Georgia's Altamaha River, describing “a concoction of contaminants” already found in the water that included gas and heavy bunker fuel that powered the ship, as well as gasoline, diesel and antifreeze from the vehicles that were being transported.

On 1 August 2021, upon completion of the section six cut of the ship, a significant amount of oil began to leak.

The salvage operation was expected to take several months, and a team was sent to Chile to examine her sister ship, Silver Ray, to better understand the internal layout.

[26] In October 2019, due to the fire, saltwater corrosion, and salvage costs, the Golden Ray was declared a total loss, and it was announced that the ship would be cut up in place and scrapped.

[29] On 13 December 2019, Coast Guard authorities confirmed that salvage workers had removed all the vessel's fuel.

[40] The final cut was completed on 5 September 2021, and preparations were made to lift the two remaining sections and secure them to barges.

The sections were held in the Port of Brunswick until they could be prepared for transport, which included removing all automobiles from the ship for processing at a local scrapyard.