US likely to release report on cargo ship accident next year

The United States is likely to issue a final report next year on its joint probe with South Korea into the capsizing of a cargo ship off the US east coast, an official has said.

The 71,000-ton, Marshall Islands-flagged Golden Ray carrying about 4,000 cars capsized in St. Simons Sound near the Port of Brunswick, Georgia, on Sept. 8. The Golden Ray was operated by Hyundai Glovis Co., a logistics unit of South Korea's Hyundai Motor Group.

(Yonhap)

Last month, officials of South Korea and the Marshall Islands teamed up with their counterparts from the US Coast Guard and the National Transportation Safety Board to try to find the exact cause of the mishap.

Kim Byeong-gon, the chief South Korean investigator who joined the probe, which lasted for nine days, said recently he expects the US to issue a final joint report around September next year.

Kim said the probe is meant to find the exact cause of the accident and make sure a similar accident does not recur.

He did not provide any further details, citing the fact that the probe is still under way. (Yonhap)