We recently posted about the NTSB determination that the car carrier Golden Ray capsized due to an error in a stability calculation prior to sailing. Now as the salvage operation is wrapping up and the costs are being tallied, the error might be referred to as a billion dollar blunder.

According to the NTSB, when the car carrier lost stability and rolled on its side two years ago in St. Simons Sound near the Port of Brunswick in Georgia, it lacked adequate stability due to the chief officer’s error in entering ballast quantities into the stability calculation program. 

How much did this error cost? The ship itself is estimated to represent an insured loss of $70-80 million. Its cargo of vehicles is valued at $80 million. (Estimates have varied in both ship and cargo values.) 

The cost of cutting up and removing the stricken ship has totaled far more than the value of the ship itself. Insurance Insider, an insurance industry trade magazine, recently put the cost of the Golden Ray salvage operation at $842 million and climbing.  

Taken together, the value of the ship, cargo, and the cost of the salvage approach and likely will exceed one billion dollars when all is said and done.