Another casualty of coronavirus: Passenger ferry service between Ocracoke and Hatteras
The coronavirus outbreak has led the state to cancel passenger ferry service between Hatteras and Ocracoke islands this summer.
The N.C. Department of Transportation decided that social distancing wouldn’t work well on a passenger ferry designed to carry more than 100 people between the two islands. NCDOT says it’s easier to keep people apart on its car ferries, where it encourages passengers to remain in their vehicles or stand at least six feet apart while on board.
More than 28,600 people rode the Ocracoke Express during its inaugural season last summer. The catamaran-style boat made three round-trips a day from late May until Labor Day weekend.
NCDOT had planned to launch the passenger service in 2018, to give people an alternative to the crowded car ferries. It spent $9.1 million building a parking lot in Hatteras and new docks on both islands and hiring US Workboats to build the aluminum-hulled ferry at its shipyard in Hubert, off the Intracoastal Waterway.
But construction delays, followed by a dispute between US Workboats and the state, mean the Ocracoke Express still isn’t finished.
Last year, NCDOT rented the M/V Martha’s Vineyard Express from Seastreak Marine of New Jersey for $1 million and operated it as the Ocracoke Express. It expected to do the same this year, but announced Tuesday that the lease contract has been canceled.
The announcement said the state Ferry Division expects to decide in the coming months whether to resume passenger ferry service in 2021.
