All 4 crew members rescued from overturned cargo ship off Georgia coast

ST. SIMONS ISLAND, Ga. — The U.S. Coast Guard has made contact with missing crew members inside a cargo ship that capsized in a sound along the Georgia coast Sunday morning. Channel 2 Action News has learned all four crew members were rescued by Monday evening.

The last crew member rescued had been stuck behind glass in an engineering control room.

Earlier in the afternoon, officials said rescuers drilled through the hull of the ship and that all four missing crew members were alive.

The Golden Ray listed heavily and then rolled over on its side early Sunday in St. Simons Sound as it left the Port of Brunswick with a pilot and 23 crew members, bound for Baltimore with a load of cars.

[PHOTOS: Car cargo ship capsizes off Georgia coast]

A Coast Guard helicopter was able to land on the side of the ship Monday as part of the rescue effort.

Coast Guard Capt. John Reed said Sunday that 20 were safely evacuated from the ship before rescuers determined the smoke and flames and unstable cargo made it too risky to venture further inside.

A rescue team has heard noises from inside a cargo ship Monday morning, but the Coast Guard was not able to confirm signs of life until just before 11 a.m.

Information from The Associated Press was used in this report. 

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