News

Savannah Corps of Engineers via Facebook

It took a year to plan, but the salvage efforts started in earnest in November 2020.
This weekend, the first massive chunk was cut off of the ship and schlepped to shore.
At least one SUV fell off the wreck and into the ocean when the section of the ship, weighing 6000 metric tons, was airborne.
The saga of the Golden Ray continues. Once a simple cargo ship plying the seas, the 656-foot-long vessel made the news in September 2019 when it capsized off the coast of Georgia near Saint Simons Sound with around 4200 new vehicles on board. It’s been sitting on the shallow ocean bed since then while plans to extract the ship and its contents from the scene were developed and, now, finally, implemented.
This content is imported from YouTube. You may be able to find the same content in another format, or you may be able to find more information, at their web site.

That’s why, all through November, salvage workers were getting ready to slice the ship into eight smaller pieces in order to move them back to shore. A giant chain powered by two large engine made the first cut through the keel this weekend. This work required a giant piece of equipment called the Versabar VB 10,000 crane vessel that was first built a decade ago to help with oil rigs damaged in hurricanes.

Cargo Ship Capsizes with 4000 Cars on Board

Capsized Cargo Ship Full of Cars to Be Dismantled

This enormous work vessel is made up of two barges with two truss space frames between them and is able to lift heavy wreckage out of the water so it can be loaded onto other ships and carried away. The VB 10,000 can lift 7500 metric tons, and it’s estimated that the first section of the Golden Ray weighed 6000 metric tons, with all sorts of cars and sediment inside.

St. Simons Sound Incident Response

St. Simons Sound Incident Response

Once lifted in the air, the first cut slice of the Golden Ray was placed on the barge Julie B and taken to Port of Brunswick before eventually heading to a recycling center in Louisiana. It wasn’t easy work. During all of the work and commotion this past weekend, an SUV fell into the ocean from the large chunk of the Golden Ray that was lifted in the air. It was not the first to fall, and the salvage team has installed a giant net to catch things like this. Smaller chunks of debris have also washed up on nearby shores and oil-skimming craft prowl the waters around the wreck to clean up any spills.

St. Simons Sound Incident Response

This kind of unusual activity is bringing out the gawkers. There’s a 200-yard safety barrier around the wreck, keeping the sightseeing boats and drones all trying to get good views of the situation a safe distance away. A Saint Simons resident told local news station WJXT that viewers can see distressed vehicles from shore.
“With the binoculars we can see cars and things inside the lifted section,” she said. “The cars are jumbled, right? Some of them look like they’re upside down, some of them look like you’re looking at the roof. The ones we can see are red, white, and black. They’re definitely in all sorts of orientations and not great conditions.”

St. Simons Sound Incident Response

It’s not just locals who are interested in the Golden Ray, which was only two years old when it capsized. The Brunswick News says documentary filmmaker Josh Gilligan is making a movie about the wreck and salvage mission. “The size and scope of it is just unreal,” he told the News. We can’t wait to see his finished work, but at least we have some local news footage to watch until then.

This content is imported from {embed-name}. You may be able to find the same content in another format, or you may be able to find more information, at their web site.

This content is created and maintained by a third party, and imported onto this page to help users provide their email addresses. You may be able to find more information about this and similar content at piano.io More

The electric Pininfarina Battista has finished its first high-speed test at the Nardò test track in Italy.
This is one of nine prototypes being used to tune the car, which has torque vectoring and five selectable driving modes.
Pininfarina will build 150 examples of the 1873-hp Battista, with first deliveries scheduled for 2021.
After completing engineering work on simulators and in wind tunnels, Pininfarina engineers have put the Battista hypercar on a real-world playing field. The electric coupe, with its claimed 1873 horsepower and 1696 lb-ft of torque, whizzed through its first round of high-speed laps on the 7.8-mile-long banked circuit at the Nardò test track in southeastern Italy.
This content is imported from YouTube. You may be able to find the same content in another format, or you may be able to find more information, at their web site.

Pininfarina would have had some insider trading about what to expect on the speed and handling courses there, since Croatian hypercar maker Rimac tested the upcoming—and closely related—Rimac C_Two at the same place almost exactly one year ago. Pininfarina paid Rimac $91 million for the carbon chassis and EV powertrain, the same as the one found in the C_Two.

Pininfarina Battista Adds Ultra-Rare Anniversario

Watch as Rimac C-Two EV Is Driven into a Wall

Next up is a testing program that puts nine prototypes on more tracks as well as public roads. People in white coats and Balenciaga sneakers need to hone the Battista’s suspension, four-motor torque-vectoring system, brake feel, aerodynamics, and regeneration from the Brembo CCMR carbon-ceramic brakes. There are also five driving modes to tune: Calma, Pura, Energica, Furiosa, and Carattere.
On top of that, the Battista needs its soft luxuries fettled, including the “external soundscape” the hypercar creates while moving slowly. Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2R or Pirelli P Zero tires wrap around a set of 20-inch Prezioso wheels, or staggered 20- and 21-inch Impulso wheels, both in forged aluminum. Pininfarina promises a zero-to-62 mph sprint in less than two seconds, a run to 186 mph in less than 12 seconds, and a top speed of 217 mph. It’s expected to reach customers starting in 2021.
This content is imported from {embed-name}. You may be able to find the same content in another format, or you may be able to find more information, at their web site.

This content is created and maintained by a third party, and imported onto this page to help users provide their email addresses. You may be able to find more information about this and similar content at piano.io More

Audi is adding the stealthy black Panther Edition (first seen on the RS5) to the 2021 R8 supercar.
It’s finished in Panther Black with carbon fiber trim, red wheels, and a red interior.
Limited to 50 cars, the R8 Panther Edition will arrive in dealers this month starting at $184,795.
Audi product manager Anthony Garbis spec’d his 2018 SQ5 with a Panther Black paint job, giving him the idea for the RS5 Panther Edition, which we spotted at the L.A. auto show last year. The stealthy black Panther Black, which appears more like a deep purple at a closer glance, is now making its way on to the 2021 Audi R8, and it’ll be limited to just 30 cars.

View Photos

Audi

The R8 Panther Edition, available on the rear-wheel-drive model, is finished in the Audi-exclusive Panther Black crystal effect paint with carbon-fiber mirrors, engine compartment, and side intakes as well as blacked-out Audi badges. It sits on 20-inch matte black with bright red trim five-double-spoke wheels wrapped with Michelin Pilot Sport 4 S tires. Whether or not those wheels look good is a matter of personal taste.

Audi RS5 to Come in Panther Limited Edition

Red dominates the interior, too. Audi racing seats are wrapped in Crimson Red leather with the rest of the interior trimmed in Audi exclusive black leather with Crimson Red stitching. There’s alcantara on the headliner, gear selector, and steering wheel, which has a Crimson Red 12-o’clock marker. A Bang & Olufsen sound system is standard on the Panther Edition.

View Photos

Audi

A naturally aspirated 5.2-liter V-10 is at the heart of the 2021 Audi R8 Panther Edition, and it produces 532 horsepower and 398 lb-ft of torque, while the all-wheel-drive R8 Performance model makes 602 horses. Audi claims that the 532-hp R8 launches to 60 mph in 3.6 seconds with a top speed of 201 mph. The Panther Edition cars are equipped with a sport exhaust system to amplify the 10-cylinder roar.
The 2021 Audi R8 Panther Edition, which is limited to 50 units, will arrive in the U.S. this month starting at $184,795.
This content is imported from {embed-name}. You may be able to find the same content in another format, or you may be able to find more information, at their web site.

This content is created and maintained by a third party, and imported onto this page to help users provide their email addresses. You may be able to find more information about this and similar content at piano.io More

Hyundai reportedly wants to buy Boston Dynamics from Softbank. It could be part of a wild effort to build walking cars. More