passenger ferry maker sues ncdot

The Ocracoke/Hatteras high-speed passenger only ferry NCDOT Ferry division leased last summer. Photo, Ocracoke Observer.
The Ocracoke/Hatteras high-speed passenger only ferry NCDOT Ferry division leased last summer. Photo, Ocracoke Observer.

Blames one year plus delay on inadequate information from Ferry Division

Facing a year plus delay in fulfilling their contract with the state, US Boatworks, the company under contract to construct a high-speed passenger only ferry to run between Hatteras and Ocracoke, is suing the Ferry Division. Although many delays were caused by inadequate welding cited by Coast Guard inspectors, the suit maintains the Ferry Division did not provide enough information. Connie Leinbach, of the Ocracoke Observer has the story.

The Ocracoke/Hatteras high-speed passenger only ferry NCDOT Ferry division leased last summer. Photo, Ocracoke Observer.
The Ocracoke/Hatteras high-speed passenger only ferry NCDOT Ferry division leased last summer. Photo, Ocracoke Observer.

“While the NC Ferry Division will again rent a passenger ferry for Ocracoke this summer, it is battling a defamation lawsuit brought by the company still building a custom passenger ferry.

Last May, US Workboats (formerly known as Armstrong Marine Inc.) in Hubert, near Swansboro, sued the NC Ferry Division over breach of contract, claiming the bid package “lacked sufficient information to allow Plaintiff and other potential bidders to know that the vessel as designed and specified by Defendant NCDOT was fundamentally flawed.”

To read the complete Ocracoke Observer story, click here.