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OCRACOKE – The N.C. Department of Transportation’s Ferry Division is suspending all service on Pamlico Sound between Cedar Island, Swan Quarter and Ocracoke through Monday, April 12 due to worsening shoaling issues in the ferry channel just outside of Ocracoke’s Silver Lake Harbor.

Shoaling occurs when sand and sediment fill into a ferry channel, making water depths too shallow and the channel too narrow for safe operation of the ferry system’s vessels.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers continues to work in the Bigfoot Slough channel to clear the shoaling. The Ferry Division will reassess channel conditions on Monday and make a decision on whether to resume service at that time.

For up-to-the-minute information on schedule changes on the Cedar Island and Swan Quarter routes, please follow @NCFerryPamSound on Twitter.