Grounded Ocracoke vessel has been freed
After being stranded on the southern end of Ocracoke Island for a total of 15 days, the Vivens Aqua has been freed as of Wednesday afternoon, February 9. Per the Ocracoke Observer, the vessel is heading to Ocracoke’s Silver Lake Harbor, and will then be towed to a boatyard in Morehead City for repairs.
On January 25, the 55-foot-long vessel, which is registered in Maryland, was grounded on the beach near Ocracoke Inlet. Both passengers on the vessel made it safely to shore.
The National Park Service initially issued a special use permit to the boat’s owner for removal directly over the water. Unfortunately, those efforts failed, which led to a decision to remove all fuel oil from the vessel.
Another special use permit was issued to the boat’s owner and his salvage contractor on February 3 for removal attempts across the beach and into the Pamlico Sound. The Vivens Aqua was successfully removed via the Pamlico Sound at around 12:30 p.m. on February 9, 2022.
A Cape Hatteras National Seashore (CHNS) webpage was recently launched to track the status and progress of the vessels that have grounded along the seashore in the past several weeks, all of which have now been removed from the beach. (Two additional vessels became grounded on Wednesday evening, February 2, near Oregon Inlet.)
The webpage, https://www.nps.gov/caha/learn/news/vessel-groundings.htm, provides updates on these current groundings, and will also be used for any future groundings within the Cape Hatteras National Seashore.
