SAPELO ISLAND, Ga. – Two months after a gangway collapsed on Sapelo Island, killing seven people who had been visiting for the Gullah-Geechee festival on Oct. 19, the Georgia Department of Natural Resources announced that new gangways have been installed for the island’s ferry service.
Four of those killed in the collapse were from Jacksonville. Officials said that at around 3:50 p.m. on Oct. 19, the gangway at the Marsh Landing Dock on Sapelo Island collapsed, with at least 20 people falling into the water.
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The victims who tragically lost their lives were Jacqueline Crews Carter, 75, of Jacksonville; Cynthia Gibbs, 74, of Jacksonville; Charles L. Houston, 77, of Darien, Ga.; William Johnson Jr., 73, of Atlanta; Carlotta McIntosh, 93, of Jacksonville; Isaiah Thomas, 79, of Jacksonville; and Queen Welch, 76, of Atlanta.
On Friday, two months after the collapse, Georgia DNR said that a contractor had installed two new gangways for the ferry service to and from Sapelo Island.
One new gangway was installed on the mainland at the Meridian Ferry Dock and the other on the island at the Marsh Landing Dock.
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Officials said while only the Marsh Landing gangway collapsed, the ferry dock gangway was also replaced as a precaution.
They said the new GatorDock aluminum gangways were engineered and manufactured by CMI Limited Co., a leading fabricator of engineered products for marine environments. Overall, each of the gangways are 91 feet long, 8 feet wide, and engineered and manufactured to a maximum live load of 260 persons, or 52,000 pounds.
Georgia DNR said that the agency, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation and a separate independent group are all conducting investigations into the collapse.
Inspection reports
Records show that, in December 2023, an inspection was done by Crescent Equipment Company and did not report any issues.
Emails released to the News4JAX I-TEAM by Georgia DNR show officials were made aware of a loud popping noise and other issues in May 2022.
DNR responded on its website:
In May 2022, DNR was made aware of a loud noise that had been heard by a group on the gangway. Following these reports, and given the gangway was still under warranty, DNR immediately contacted the general contractor, Centennial Contractors Enterprises, Inc., who then reached out to their subcontractor, Crescent Manufacturing Co., Inc. The next day, staff from Crescent Manufacturing Co., Inc. (Crescent), came out to inspect the gangway, and stated that there were no concerns for the structural integrity of the gangway. A follow-up inspection was conducted in December 2022, and it was determined there were no structural concerns with the gangway.
The state agency also reported this information about a recent inspection.
The letter from the second inspection was dated “December 10, 2023,” which is why DNR stated an inspection was done in December 2023. However, we have recently learned this was an inspection from 2022 and the inspection report was inadvertently dated 2023. The letter/report was shared with DNR on January 10, 2023.