BALD HEAD ISLAND — At nearly 7 a.m. Thursday, Bald Head Island Ferry’s “The Patriot” ran aground on a shoaling just outside the harbor.
105 passengers and three crewmembers were aboard the vessel, though there were no reported injuries, according to Bion Stewart, Bald Head Island Transportation’s vice president of operations. The Patriot services employees and contractors to the island.
READ MORE: Legal fees mount amid Bald Head Island concerns with harbor deepening
The passengers were nearly at their destination before the vessel hit the shoaling — or a sandbar. Rescue boats from the U.S. Coast Guard-Oak Island and Towboat US arrived shortly after to bring all passengers to their destination.
The sandbar was kicked up from the recent winter storms, according to Stewart, but it isn’t entirely unusual. Bald Head Island Transportation tracks reports of low tides and shoalings, and this morning reports suggested extremely low tides.
“But for the most part, you can’t see it, so you don’t know,” Stewart said.
Stewart added extreme winds from the recent storms affected the tides, which pushed the shoaling around in an unpredictable manner. In addition, the combination of low tides with currents and ocean swells that move boats up and down more than normal made getting stuck in a shoaling more likely.
“You can’t just look at [the storm] as snow,” Stewart explained. “Accompanying that are high winds and strong currents.”
Dive crews discovered the vessel had wire wrapped around the starboard propeller, contributing to jamming the blades.
The vessel is currently aground, but both Bald Head Island Transportation staff and U.S. Coast Guard representatives have had to cease operations on The Patriot for the day due to worsening weather conditions. Divers were brought in to also examine the vessel’s and shoaling damages.
Once the boat has been evaluated and removed from the sandbar, it will be brought back to Deep Point Marina for a more thorough examination.
Coast Guard Sector North Carolina will be conducting an investigation into the incident, Steward confirmed, adding without proper, thorough evaluation, the operation of removing the vessel from where it’s stuck could make matters worse.
Though The Patriot isn’t operational — tram service was also paused from the incident — passenger ferries to Bald Head Island resumed at 1:30 p.m. with a departure from Deep Point Marina.
“We continue to assess conditions in support of both passenger and contractor ferry operations, but please be advised it may be necessary to suspend this afternoon’s contractor/employee ferry schedule,” the BHI website indicated.
At Port City Daily, we aim to keep locals informed on top-of-mind news facing the tri-county region. To support our work and help us reach more people in 2026, please, consider helping one of two ways: Subscribe here or make a one-time contribution here.
We appreciate your ongoing support.
