Cargo Ship Runs Aground off US East Coast

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. Quincy Davis, temporarily closed the channel to deep draft commercial traffic until the vessel is no longer in the channel and a waterway assessment is complete.

 

The Coast Guard is working closely with the Army Corps of Engineers and North Carolina Ports Authority to resolve this issue.