Beaufort Inlet News

The Coast Guard saved three mariners aboard a disabled sailing vessel more than 50 miles east southeast of Cape Lookout, Saturday evening.At 9:45 a.m., watchstanders at Coast Guard Sector North Carolina received notification of the 36-foot disabled sailing vessel Cloud from Sea Tow. All persons aboard the sailing vessel had donned their life jackets and there were no injuries or medical concerns aboard.The Coast Guard launched Coast Guard Cutter Richard Snyder to assist, and diverted…

North Carolina’s Beaufort Inlet Channel has been temporarily closed Thursday after a 590-foot cargo ship ran aground between buoys 16 and 17 in the channel. Watchstanders at U.S. Coast Guard Sector North Carolina received a call via landline at 1:15 p.m. that the bulk carrier Pola Palekh ran aground. The Malta-flagged vessel is carrying 35,800 metric tons of fertilizer and holds approximately 27,000 gallons of fuel oil. No injuries, pollution or damage to the ship have been reported. Sector North Carolina watchstanders issued a safety marine information broadcast and launched a 29-foot Response Boat-Small crew from Coast Guard Station Fort Macon to assess the cargo ship and the channel. The acting Captain of the Port for Sector North Carolina, Cmdr.

U.S. Coast Guard and Marine Corps helicopter crews rescued two people and a dog Sunday from a grounded sailboat near Beaufort. Watchstanders at Coast Guard Sector North Carolina in Wilmington received a call at approximately 11:50 a.m. from the operator of the 22-foot sailboat Serendipity who stated the boat was grounded and being taken over by waves near the number 15 buoy in Beaufort Inlet. Sector North Carolina personnel issued an urgent marine information broadcast and launched an MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter crew from Air Station Elizabeth City to the scene. A Marine Corps HH-46 Sea Knight helicopter crew from Air Station Cherry Point arrived on scene first and hoisted a man with a heart condition from the grounded vessel. The crew placed him in the care of awaiting EMS at Fort Macon.

The crew of the Coast Guard Cutter 'Smilax' worked with personnel from the North Carolina Department of Cultural Resources to recover 5 cannons and multiple barrel hoops from the 'Queen Anne's Revenge' in Beaufort Inlet, N.C. The Queen Anne's Revenge was the ship of the pirate Edward Teach, better known as Blackbeard, for more than a year before the ship ran aground on the shoals in the inlet. The crew of the Smilax, a 100-foot inland construction tender, worked with NCDCR divers…

Many unknown treasures and concretion-encased surprises await researchers on the wreck of Blackbeard’s flagship, Queen Anne’s Revenge (QAR), near Beaufort. Part two of this year’s dive season resumed this week, and the plan is to recover artifacts from 60 five-foot by five-foot units by October 31. After nearly 300 years on the sea floor, the artifacts often are locked in a concrete-like crust of sand, shells and marine life that is removed during the conservation process. This summer’s earlier dive ended in mid-June with the recovery of two eight-foot cannons.

The USCG terminated the voyage of F/V Miss Betty T due to numerous major safety violations southeast of Beaufort Inlet, N.C. A boarding team from USCGC Point Warde boarded the 66-ft. shrimp trawler, discovering the wooden hulled vessel was taking on approximately 450 gallons of water per hour. Other safety deficiencies included inadequate fire fighting equipment, exposed wires throughout the vessel, fuel leaks, missing hatch cover and improper maintenance of lifesaving equipment. The USCG also terminated the voyage of F/V Frisco, due to major safety violations approximately three miles east of Parramore Island, Va. A Coast Guard Station Parramore Beach boarding team operating from an Independent Maritime Response Vessel (IMARV) conducted a safety inspection of the 55-ft.