Yet another boat is having to be removed after running aground on NC’s Outer Banks
Another boat has run aground on North Carolina’s Outer Banks.
The Alhambra, a 37-foot sailing vessel, “safely grounded” near Cape Hatteras National Seashore’s Avon Fishing Pier on the morning of Saturday, Dec. 11, according to a news release from the National Park Service.
The park service shared photos of the grounded boat stuck on the beach.
The NPS said it’s working with the U.S. Coast Guard and the boat’s owner to “remove any hazardous substances and have the boat removed from the beach.” It said the owner is working to have it removed in “a timely manner.”
“Cape Hatteras National Seashore will continue to monitor removal progress until the Alhambra has safely departed,” the park service wrote on Facebook on Dec. 11.
A photo shared by the park service on Facebook shows a sign posted in front of the boat warning against trespassing on, looting or damaging the vessel.
The boat is one of multiple that have run aground on the Outer Banks in recent weeks.
On the morning of Tuesday, Dec. 7, the Coast Guard said it airlifted four fisherman from a disabled boat that was drifting toward shore off the coast of Duck. The fishing boat, named the Bald Eagle II, eventually grounded near Southern Shores, town officials said. The Coast Guard is investigating what caused it to ground.
The Coast Guard said Friday, Dec. 10, that it’s overseeing “the salvage and removal” of the boat. It said the owner is “working with an Oil Spill Removal Organization to safely remove the 5,000 gallons of diesel fuel on board.”
In November, a fishing boat called Jonathan Ryan ran aground near Frisco Campground, McClatchy News reported. It later “safely departed” Cape Hatteras National Seashore after officials worked with the owner to remove it.
Its grounding came just weeks after a 72-foot scallop boat that wrecked on Bodie Island in 2020 and became a popular tourist attraction was removed, McClatchy News reported.
The waters off the coast of North Carolina’s Outer Banks are nicknamed the Graveyard of the Atlantic because of the number of vessels that have wrecked there.
“These waters have entombed thousands of vessels and countless mariners who lost a desperate struggle against the forces of war, piracy and nature,” the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said.
This story was originally published December 12, 2021 at 2:45 PM with the headline "Yet another boat is having to be removed after running aground on NC’s Outer Banks."
