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The state Department of Transportation Ferry Division says heavy shoaling in Hatteras Inlet has forced it to halt the hourly ferry runs between Hatteras and Ocracoke islands.

A fourth daily run will be added starting Saturday to the Pamlico Sound ferry route that links Ocracoke to Swan Quarter. On the Swan Quarter and the Ocracoke-Cedar Island routes, DOT will waive ferry tolls for Ocracoke residents and "vendors carrying necessary goods and commodities," the Ferry Division said.

Heavy loads of sand have made the inlet channel so shallow in recent weeks that ferry runs were suspended each day for a few hours around the low-tide mark (see 1/18/13 story). ... [MORE]

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The NCDOT Ferry Division says it will add two more runs this weekend to the Swan Quarter - Ocracoke ferry route, to make up for some of the delays caused by shoaling that has disrupted the busy Hatteras - Ocracoke ferry across Hatteras Inlet (see 5/8/12 story with reader comments).

On Saturday and Sunday, along with regular departures from Swan Quarter at 10 a.m. and 4:30 p.m., new departures will be added at 7 a.m. and 1 p.m.  In addition to the regular departures from Ocracoke at 7 a.m. and 12:45 p.m., new departures will be added at 10 a.m. and 4 p.m.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is expected Saturday to start a two-week dredging operation to clear sand out of the Hatteras Inlet channel.