Cape Fear News

Four divers that went missing off the U.S. East Coast on Sunday were rescued Monday 46 miles southeast of Cape Fear River, N.C.The U.S. Coast Guard said its watchstanders at Sector North Carolina initially received a notification Sunday from Coast Guard Sector Charleston stating four men were diving from the pleasure craft Big Bill’s, approximately 63 miles east of Myrtle Beach, S.C. near noon, and had not resurfaced. Sectors Charleston and North Carolina coordinated a multi-asset…

Hubert, N.C. shipbuilder US Watercraft said it has been selected by New Hanover County to build a custom 30-foot aluminum fire/rescue vessel. Now under construction, the vessel will be delivered in early 2023.Located in southeastern North Carolina, the county has 31 miles of shoreline on the mainland and barrier islands, with communities facing both the Cape Fear River and the Atlantic Ocean.In addition to fire-fighting capacity, the aluminum catamaran will feature an hydraulic bow door for deploying a rescue ATV.

Vane Brothers said it has taken delivery of its new 3,000-horsepower model bow tug Cape Henry from Chesapeake Shipbuilding.Cape Henry is a true sister tug of the Cape Fear, which was delivered to Van Brothers in October 2020. Both model bow tugs are primarily tasked with towing petroleum barges engaged in the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic coastwise trade.Featuring a design by the late Frank Basile, P.E., of Entech Designs, LLC, the Cape Henry measures 94 feet long and 32 feet wide with a hull depth of 13 feet.

The U.S. dredging fleet is growing. Presently on order and under construction is a raft of in-demand equipment that will help to keep America’s ports and waterways open, safeguard coastal communities and maintain the vital flow of maritime commerce to, from and through the U.S.In August, Eastern Shipbuilding Group cut first steel for a new trailing suction hopper dredge (TSHD) it is building for Weeks Marine, and the keel was laid the following month at the builder’s Allanton Shipyard in Panama City, Fla. The new 6,540 cubic meter capacity dredge R.B.

The U.S. Coast Guard said it lit a first-of-its-kind LED-based rotating beacon at Oak Island Lighthouse on Caswell Beach, N.C., Monday.This upgrade is the Coast Guard’s first LED-based rotating beacon for an active aid to navigation and will provide a permanent, cost-effective and energy-efficient solution for the lighthouse. Necessary renovations of the lighthouse to prepare for the new beacon began in October."Lighthouses have navigational and historic significance here in North Carolina," said Lt. Brittany Akers, chief of waterways management at Coast Guard Sector North Carolina.

Vane Brothers said it has taken delivery of the 3,000-horsepower Cape Fear, the 17th Maryland-built tugboat to join the Baltimore-based marine transportation provider’s fleet.Since 2008, 15 3,000-horsepower, model-bow tugboats have been delivered to Vane Brothers by Chesapeake Shipbuilding and Naval Architects of Salisbury, Md. Chesapeake has also constructed two 3,000-horsepower push boats for Vane.“The 3,000-horsepower tug is powerful, practical and a perfect fit for Vane’s harbor and coastwise towing operations,” says Vane Brothers President C. Duff Hughes.

The Netherlands based Royal IHC said it has been awarded a contract to design and build a Jones Act compliant dredger for the North Carolina State Ports Authority (NCSPA) for delivery in 2021.The water injection dredger will be built at a partner shipyard in the U.S.“The construction, procurement of the main components, assembly and testing will be performed in the United States (following the Jones Act regulations) and is being managed by the local IHC operations team based in Houston,” said Projects & Services Director Rafael Vorcaro.

As Florence bears down on the North Carolina coastline, the Category 4 storm is being compared to the worst storm ever to hit the Tarheel State - Hurricane Hazel, occurring back in 1954.Hurricane Florence, packing winds of more than 130 mph. Hazel, in comparison, brought winds of 150 mph, causing 19 deaths and destroyed thousands of buildings as it bulled its way inland.As many as 1.5 million residents have been told to evacuate coastal and low lying areas in South Carolina and North Carolina. Local authorities have reversed eastbound lanes of Interstate highways as both states looked to expedite the evacuation process. The U.S. Navy has sent its fleet to sea and cruise ships with regular port calls in this area have been rerouted. Separately, the U.S.

Hurricane Florence is forecast to be a major hurricane when it nears the U.S. coast on Thursday, bringing life-threatening storm surge and rainfall to portions of the Carolinas and Mid-Atlantic states, the U.S. National Hurricane Center (NHC) said in an advisory on Wednesday morning.The extremely dangerous hurricane, currently a category 4, is located about 530 miles southeast of Cape Fear, N.C. packing maximum sustained winds of 130 miles per hour, it said in an advisory issued…

1861 - USS Penguin, commanded by Cmdr. John L. Livingston, engages blockade-runner Louisa during the Civil War. The blockade-runner hits a sandbar near Cape Fear, N.C., and sinks. 1877 - Prof. Asaph Hall of the U.S. Naval Observatory discovers the first of two satellites of Mars, Phobos and Deimos, using the largest refractor of the time, a USNO 26-inch (66-cm) telescope. 1898 - During the Spanish-American War, USS Cushing (TB 1), USS Gwin (TB 16), and USS McKee (TB 18) captured and burned the Spanish schooner Jover Genard at Carendas, Cuba.

The North Carolina Department of Transportation recently took delivery of a new, fully customized cutter suction dredge, which it christened the Dredge Manteo in a ceremony held April 28, 2016, at the at the NCDOT State Shipyard in Manns Harbor, N.C.. The 154-foot state-of-the-art pipeline dredge, designed and built by DSC Dredge, based in Reserve, La., will work to keep North Carolina’s state-maintained intercostal ferry channels clear, from the Cape Fear River near Wilmington to Currituck Sound near the North Carolina-Virginia state line.

A shipwreck discovered off the coast of North Carolina is likely one of three Confederate blockade runners known to have been lost in the area, archaeologists said on Monday. The remains of the iron-hulled steamer were located on Feb. 27 near Oak Island. It would be the first Civil War-era vessel found in the area in decades, said the North Carolina Office of State Archaeology. Billy Ray Morris, director of the state's underwater archaeology branch, said he expected to be able to positively identify the 225-foot-long (68-metre) vessel when he leads a dive team to examine it on Wednesday. "To turn up a new wreck is a pretty big deal," he said in a telephone interview, adding sonar images showed the vessel to be largely intact.

Coast Guard Oak Island crew members and a Brunswick County paramedic came to the aid of an ailing man Wednesday aboard a charter fishing vessel approximately 15 miles southeast of the Cape Fear River entrance. Personnel at Coast Guard Sector North Carolina received notification from the 25-foot charter vessel with five people on board Wednesday about noon stating a 35-year-old male passenger with heart problems was in and out of consciousness approximately 28 miles southeast of the Cape Fear River entrance. A 47-foot Motor Lifeboat (MLB) crew from Station Oak Island launched first and a 29-foot Response Boat-Small (RBS) from Station Oak Island later launched after taking aboard a Brunswick County paramedic.

Cape Fear Pilots Association of Southport, N.C. has taken delivery of its second St. John’s Class pilot boat from Gladding-Hearn Shipbuilding, Duclos Corporation. This vessel marks the Somerset, Mass. shipyard’s 400th boat built since its founding 1955. The new all-aluminum launch, an updated version of the pilot’s first St. John’s Class delivered in 2001, features a deep-V hull designed by C. Raymond Hunt Associates. It measures 52 feet overall, with a 17-foot beam and a 4.8-foot draft. It is powered by twin Caterpillar C-18 diesel engines, each producing 479 Bhp at 1,800 rpm.

Duke Energy Corp has agreed to pay a fine of about $102 million for environmental violations related to a power plant's coal ash spill into a North Carolina river last year and the company's management of coal ash basins in the state. Duke set aside $100 million in the fourth quarter in anticipation of the settlement, the company said in an earnings statement. The U.S. Department of Justice fined the company for five Clean Water Act violations at its Dan River and Riverbend steam stations and four Clean Water Act violations at the company's H.F. Lee Steam, Cape Fear and Asheville electricity-generating plants, according to a company statement on Friday.

The first hurricane of the Atlantic season gained strength on Thursday is expected to attain Category 2 status as it reaches the North Carolina coast, where thousands of vacationers scrubbed their July Fourth holiday plans amid evacuation orders. Hurricane Arthur was about 110 miles (175 km) south-southwest of Cape Fear, North Carolina, with current maximum sustained winds of 90 miles per hour (145 km per hour), U.S. forecasters said. Moving faster at 10 mph (17 kph), the center…

Storm Arthur became the first hurricane of the 2014 Atlantic hurricane season, the U.S. National Hurricane Center (NHC) said on Thursday. Arthur was about 190 miles (305 km) south-southwest of Cape Fear, North Carolina with maximum sustained wind of 75 mph (120 kph), NHC said. (Reporting by Anupam Chatterjee in Bangalore; Editing by Alison Williams)

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.

Metropolitan Stevedore Co., established in 1923 in Southern California and with business roots dating back to the 1850s gold rush era through its original San Francisco parent corporation, California Stevedore and Ballast Co., is celebrating its 90th anniversary. Through the years, Metropolitan Stevedore Co. became known as Metro, so in 2008 the decision was made to use Metro Ports as the new brand for the various key operating companies of Wilmington, Calif.-based Nautilus International Holding Corp.

Cape Fear federal pilot launches its first pilot boat and welcomes its latest customer, US Shipping Corp. After years of using a hired launch vessel for boarding ATB's, tugs and ships at the entrance to the Cape Fear River, the Cape Fear Federal Pilots recently launched its first pilot vessel. River pilot Tony McNeill, who operates the pilotage service for the Port of Wilmington NC for U.S. The boat is Boston Whaler Challenger that Tony has had for a couple of years but has waited for the appropriate time to put it to work. Pilot McNeill informs that In addition to the new boat, U.S.

Silver Ships, Inc. recently delivered two 27’ Patrol Boats to the New Hanover and Brunswick County Sheriff’s Departments. The vessels will be tasked with patrolling the Intracoastal Waterways, the Cape Fear River and coastal waters as well as the surrounding estuaries and barrier islands within the jurisdiction of the New Hanover & Brunswick Counties, North Carolina. The 27-foot, deep vee, vessels were designed and configured to meet the mission requirements for extended patrol, emergency response and fast pursuit when necessary.

Great Lakes Dredge & Dock Corporation (GLDD) gets Wilmington Harbor anchorage basin deepening contract from Army Corps of Engineers. The contract, worth US$16.4-million, is for the deepening of the anchorage basin portion of the existing navigation channel on the Cape Fear River in North Carolina. This project was awarded to  by the Army Corps of Engineers Wilmington District and involves the excavation of sand, gravel and rock seabed material. Work is expected to begin before the end of the year.

Cape Fear Pilots Association, Southport, N.C., has ordered a second St. John’s Class pilot boat from Gladding-Hearn Shipbuilding, Duclos Corporation. This vessel has special meaning for Gladding-Hearn because since it will be the 400th boat built since the shipyard’s founding in 1955. Delivery is planned for later this year. The new all-aluminum launch, with a deep-V hull designed by C. Raymond Hunt Associates, measures 52 feet overall, with a 17-foot beam and a 4.8-foot draft. It will be powered by twin Caterpillar C-18 diesel engines, each producing 479 Bhp at 1800 rpm. Top speed is expected to reach 23 knots. The EPA Tier 2-rated engines will turn 5-blade Ni-Br-Al propellers via Twin Disc MG 5114A-7 Quick Shift gear boxes. A Northern Lights diesel generator will provide 9kW of output.