A worker at US Workboats guides the 48,000-pound hull of the M/V Ocracoke Express during Monday's hull flip in Hubert, NC.
HUBERT – Workers at US Workboats
successfully “flipped” the 48,000-pound hull of the M/V Ocracoke
Express Monday, moving construction of the N.C. Ferry Division’s first
passenger-only vessel into its final stages.
The aluminum catamaran-style hull was assembled upside down over
the past several months while the passenger cabin and pilot house were
constructed separately. Now that the hull has been flipped, workers will install
engines and steering systems and assemble the entire ferry. US Workboats expects
to deliver the vessel to the Ferry Division in September.
“This is a major milestone in the vessel construction,” said Ferry
Division Director Harold Thomas. “We’re looking forward to showing this vessel
off to the public this fall.”
The $4.15 million M/V Ocracoke Express will be a 98-passenger ferry
that will take pedestrians from the Hatteras Inlet Terminal directly to the
Silver Lake Terminal in the heart of Ocracoke Village. The project is designed
to ease visitor access to Ocracoke Island and alleviate summertime congestion on
the ferry system’s popular vehicle ferry.
(Note: A 0:27 time-lapse video of the hull flip is available here.)