The U.S. Coast Guard has transferred five passengers from a ferry that ran aground Saturday in Hatteras Inlet, North Carolina. No injuries, vessel damage or pollution were reported.
The Coast Guard was alerted at 11:30 a.m. Saturday that the North Carolina Dept. of Transportation ferry Roanoke was aground with three vehicles, five passengers and six crew members aboard.
A 24-foot Special Purpose Craft-Shallow Water crew launched from Station Hatteras Inlet and arrived on scene to remove passengers from the ferry and to take them to Hatteras Ferry Terminal in Hatteras. Five passengers were then transported to the terminal safely.
At 11:21 p.m. a tug was successful in refloating the ferry, enabling the vessel to transit back to Hatteras North Ferry on its own.