Electric ferry team proposes Ocracoke, Hatteras links to mainland

By Sam Walker Samwalkerobxnews.com

A maritime development team is exploring electric passenger ferry service between Buxton and Ocracoke.

PamliEcoConnect is proposing service involving Ocracoke and Buxton and three mainland communities: Vandemere in Pamlico County, along with Engelhard and Belhaven.

The initial route concept centered on Ocracoke, Buxton and Vandemere, a waterfront town on the Bay River between the Pamlico and Neuse rivers.

Vandemere is about 3 miles from the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway and roughly 35 miles east of New Bern by road.

Project manager and founder Jay Phillips said the network could provide another way to reach the Outer Banks without traveling through North Carolina’s traditional ferry gateways or relying entirely on N.C. 12.

Buxton could serve as a Hatteras Island stop, while Vandemere could provide access from Raleigh, Durham and other inland communities.

The company views Engelhard, which it says would involve a crossing of about 25 nautical miles, as a potential commuter connection for Hatteras Island workers living in more affordable mainland housing.

Belhaven already has boatyards, marinas and visitor amenities that could support passengers traveling in either direction, according to the company.

PamliEcoConnect said its current operating concept calls for one vessel based at each mainland port, making two to three loops per day based on demand rather than a fixed timetable.

A fourth vessel would be available for charter service or as a backup, although the company has not released a route-by-route schedule or determined when service could begin.

At this point, the estimated retail fare would be about $35 each way, with discounted passes planned for local residents and seasonal workers.

PamliEcoConnect said some passes could be subsidized, but it has not identified a funding source for the discounts, and the fares remain planning estimates rather than final prices.

Phillips said the service could also offer an alternative when storms, ocean overwash or other emergencies disrupt travel on N.C. 12.

“It changes the dynamics of transportation from the western shore to the eastern shore, Inner Banks, Outer Banks, significantly,” Phillips said.

The Vandemere concept has some support in an independent study, but the study did not evaluate PamliEcoConnect, endorse its proposed vessels or approve a ferry route.

A 2023 passenger ferry feasibility study conducted by N.C. State University’s Institute for Transportation Research and Education for the N.C. Department of Transportation identified Vandemere as one of several possible mainland terminals for passenger service to Ocracoke.

Researchers visited Vandemere in October 2022 and reviewed four possible terminal sites.

They found locations with water access, potential parking and enough space for ferry-related development, including land near the town’s Waterfront Park.

The study estimated a trip from the Triangle to Ocracoke through Vandemere could take about 3½ to five hours, compared with an estimated 5½ to seven hours using existing routes.

That included roughly 2½ hours of driving from Raleigh to Vandemere and slightly more than an hour aboard a passenger ferry.

Researchers estimated that attracting 1% of the Triangle’s approximately 1.85 million residents could generate 18,500 additional passenger trips annually.

Under that scenario, the service could produce $3.2 million in direct spending, support more than 50 jobs and generate about $5.5 million in annual economic activity.

Those figures were based on assumptions, however, and were not projected ridership figures for PamliEcoConnect.

The N.C. State study stressed that financial feasibility would be critical and did not select an operator, vessel, fare structure or funding source.

The study also did not evaluate PamliEcoConnect’s proposed connections involving Buxton, Engelhard or Belhaven.

PamliEcoConnect proposes using American-built electric vessels that would rise partially above the water on retractable foils.

The company says the design could reduce drag, energy use and wake while allowing the vessels to operate in shallow water when their foils are retracted.

PamliEcoConnect has described concepts ranging up to 150 passengers, but its latest development plan outlines four vessel series built around common tooling, foils and flight-control technology.

The six-passenger R-Series would serve as the initial research, development and demonstration vessel.

The 20-passenger T-Series would be designed under U.S. Coast Guard rules for small passenger vessels and would be used on the flagship routes.

The P-Series would carry 50 passengers on higher-capacity routes, while the M-Series would be intended for defense and other specialized missions.

The company cautions that its speed, range and draft figures are design targets that have not been confirmed through sea trials.

Phillips previously discussed starting scheduled service with vessels carrying about 20 passengers, indicating that the larger designs would follow only after the smaller vessels are built and tested.

The vessels would use lithium iron phosphate battery packs and direct-current charging stations backed by stationary sodium-ion batteries, according to PamliEcoConnect.

The company says the stationary batteries would reduce the amount of power drawn from the local electrical grid during each charging session.

No charging equipment has been installed, and the company has not released cost estimates, utility agreements or construction schedules for the proposed charging sites.

PamliEcoConnect said the smaller passenger vessels would not need the terminals required for state-operated vehicle ferries and could use more modest docking facilities.

The group says it owns the proposed Buxton site, removing what it considers the most difficult property question on the Hatteras Island side.

It has not announced docking agreements at Ocracoke, Vandemere, Engelhard or Belhaven, however, or provided details about parking and ground transportation at those locations.

PamliEcoConnect also sees a market opening in federal coastwise-trade law, which generally requires vessels carrying passengers between U.S. points to be built and documented in the United States.

The U.S. Maritime Administration may waive the domestic-build requirement for certain foreign-built vessels that are at least 3 years old and carry no more than 12 passengers, subject to a review of their potential effects on American builders and operators.

That limited waiver would not cover PamliEcoConnect’s proposed 20- and 50-passenger vessels, giving an American builder an advantage over European manufacturers that currently dominate the electric hydrofoil market.

“We’ve got a team together. The business plan is finished, and now we’re in the funding stage,” Phillips said.

Phillips said the current management team includes John-Edward Elion, an Annapolis-area representative and founding chief financial officer; Alan Stewart, naval architecture team leader with B&B Yacht Designs in Bayboro; and Jim Gardiner of Compmillennia Boatbuilding in Washington, North Carolina, who leads the boatbuilding team.

The team also includes Larry Ward as mechanical and electrical engineering leader, Vail Dixon as press contact and executive administrative assistant, and Lina Garatly as international marketing director for the Middle East.

The company is seeking a controller, grants administrator, local workers and subcontractors.

The developers may face hesitation in Raleigh if they seek state money because of the problems encountered by Harbor Towns, another northeastern North Carolina passenger-ferry project.

The General Assembly provided Harbor Towns with $5 million in 2022 for tourism development in Manteo, Columbia, Plymouth, Edenton, Hertford and Elizabeth City.

That money paid for the Albemarle Queen paddle-wheel excursion boat and two high-speed Hysucat passenger ferries.

The state provided another $10 million in 2023 for waterfront docks and other infrastructure in the participating communities.

The Albemarle Queen continues to offer cruises and special events, but the two high-speed ferries never began the planned regular service connecting the towns.

Harbor Towns leaders said the vessels experienced manufacturing and mechanical problems, were expensive to operate and were being considered for sale, WUNC reported in October 2025.

No lawmakers or state agencies have publicly taken a position on PamliEcoConnect.

Phillips, however, acknowledged that Harbor Towns could make public officials and other potential funders wary of another untested passenger-ferry proposal.

“That’s a pink elephant that every legislator and funder is looking at,” Phillips said.

PamliEcoConnect characterizes its approach as the reverse of Harbor Towns because it intends to build and test smaller research vessels before expanding into regularly scheduled service.

The company also says its tooling has already been used to produce vacuum-infused carbon-fiber hulls, although it has not completed a prototype incorporating the proposed electric propulsion, foils and flight-control system.

“We’re starting from the opposite direction,” Phillips said. “We understand what boats will work and are working currently.”

Financing remains one of the project’s largest unresolved issues.

PamliEcoConnect is seeking a $1.25 million seed round, followed by a community investment campaign through Wefunder and a possible $20 million later-stage round.

The Wefunder campaign is not yet active, and the company says preliminary expressions of interest are not investments.

The company is also seeking federal and state grants for domestic vessel manufacturing, rural transportation and maritime technology, but no grants, private investments or vessel orders have been announced.

Phillips has said a research vessel could be placed in the water as soon as three months after financing is secured, but the company has not announced a construction contract or firm launch date.

Several major steps remain before passengers could board one of the vessels, including completing a prototype, conducting sea trials, obtaining Coast Guard approvals and demonstrating that the boats can meet their speed, range, capacity and rough-water targets.

Questions also remain about mainland and Ocracoke docking arrangements, charging infrastructure, parking, insurance, maintenance, staffing, final fares and whether projected demand would support year-round or seasonal service.

Any service would supplement the state’s vehicle ferries and the seasonal Ocracoke Express passenger ferry.

The Ocracoke Express carries as many as 129 passengers between Hatteras and Ocracoke Village, with the trip taking about 70 minutes.

The proposed mainland connections would approach Ocracoke and Hatteras Island from the southwest side of Pamlico Sound.

A Buxton stop could give Hatteras Island residents and visitors a direct passenger connection to the mainland without driving north across Oregon Inlet or south to the Hatteras ferry terminal.

For now, PamliEcoConnect remains a proposal supported by design concepts and a broader ferry study, with its future depending on the team securing financing, building and testing vessels and establishing the dock and charging network needed to operate across Pamlico Sound.