HATTERAS – Because five employees with the North Carolina Department of Transportation’s Ferry Division assigned to the ferry route between Hatteras and Ocracoke have tested positive for COVID-19, resulting in a temporary staff shortage, service between Hatteras and Ocracoke will be reduced starting Friday, Sept. 3, until the division can safely resume normal schedules.
Round trips will be reduced from 60 to 44 trips between the two islands.
The schedule will be as follows:
- Hatteras: 5 a.m., 6 a.m., 7 a.m., 8 a.m., 9 a.m., 10 a.m., 10:30 a.m., 11 a.m., noon, 1 p.m., 1:30 p.m., 2 p.m., 3 p.m., 4 p.m., 4:30 p.m., 5 p.m., 6 p.m., 7:30 p.m., 8 p.m., 9 p.m., 11 p.m. and midnight.
- Ocracoke: 4:30 a.m., 6:30 a.m., 7:30 a.m., 8:30 a.m., 9:30 a.m., 10:30 a.m., 11:30 a.m., noon, 12:30 p.m., 1:30 p.m., 2:30 p.m., 3 p.m., 3:30 p.m., 4:30 p.m., 5:30 p.m., 6 p.m., 6:30 p.m., 7:30 p.m., 9 p.m., 9:30 p.m., 10:30 p.m., and midnight.
Ferry travelers are encouraged to call the Hatteras Terminal at 252-996-6000 before arriving to check on schedules and estimated wait times.
Service from the Currituck-Knotts Island ferry route will be suspended Saturday through Monday, as those staff are supporting the Hatteras-Ocracoke route.
Employees and passengers are required to wear face coverings when inside vessels and terminal facilities, regardless of vaccination status, according to requirements from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and Transportation Security Administration.
The Hyde County and Carteret County health departments and the N.C. Department of Health and Human Services have been notified of the positive tests.
The five employees are recovering at home under isolation for at least 14 days. They last worked on the route Sept. 2.
The vessels and the terminals at Hatteras have been cleaned and sanitized since the positive test results.
Routine COVID cleaning has been ongoing at all ferry division facilities since the beginning of the pandemic last year.
Passengers who think they may have been exposed to the virus should contact their local health department.
This is absolutely ridiculous! They should be made to get the vaccine. As a business owner on Ocracoke they are killing us being irresponsible!
5? It was 2. The other 3 were resignations over the states vaccine policy for state workers. We’ll likely see this reduced schedule indefinitely as more and more walk out.
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