"Miss Katie" is the result of a yearslong collaboration between Dare County officials and EJE Dredging Service, who owns the dredge. On the afternoon of Friday, August 19, 2022, she officially arrived in Wanchese, which serves as the dredge’s homeport.
Under the direction of the Oregon Inlet Task Force, Miss Katie is tasked with helping to address the significant shoaling that occurs in various channels and inlets throughout Dare County in an effort to keep these waterways open and navigable for both commercial and recreational vessels.
Dare County is committed to keeping area waterways and inlets open and navigable for commercial and recreational fishermen, allocating $250,000 in local funding for dredging within Hatteras Inlet each year. A 75 percent match that is allocated to Dare County by the State of North Carolina provides an additional $750,000 in funding for dredging projects within Hatteras Inlet.
In addition, Dare County also allocates $3 million for dredging Oregon Inlet each year, with a 75 percent match that is provided by the State of North Carolina, which is an additional $9 million in funding that is available to perform dredging projects within this essential Outer Banks waterway.
Project Background
With more than 100 miles of coastline — and a wide array of surrounding waterways that range from sounds to salt marshes — the Outer Banks is home to one of the largest fishing industries in the entire country. Critical sectors of the Outer Banks economy rely on access through these channels that serve as a highway for area watermen.
Commercial and sport fishing—as well as its supporting industries, which include boat building; seafood packing and processing; and tournament fishing — are all integral to the Outer Banks economy, providing thousands of jobs and contributing hundreds of millions of dollars to Dare County each year.
Because the livelihoods of so many people who live and work along the Outer Banks are reliant upon these waterways, it’s crucial that they are properly dredged to eliminate the shoaling that takes place under the surface.
Without proper dredging, commercial fishing boats and recreational vessels both run the risk of running aground in the shallow water. And as a result, many Outer Banks fishermen end up taking their catch to neighboring states whose waterways are more accessible.
To ensure that vessels are able to safely navigate the channels and inlets that exist in Dare County, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has the responsibility of dredging the federally authorized channels. But a lack of time and resources has significantly held up many dredging projects — and allowed shoaling to take over and shifting sandbars to seal off some of these waterways to the boats that require deeper water to make it through.
On May 20, 2019, the Dare County Board of Commissioners unanimously approved a contract for the construction and operation of a new shallow-draft hopper dredge for use in the various channels and inlets throughout Dare County.
Funding for the project came from a public-private partnership with the state of North Carolina, in which the legislature allocated $15 million from the Shallow Draft Navigation Channel Dredging and Aquatic Weed Fund for the purchase of the dredge. The dredge — which has been named "Miss Katie" — was constructed in Louisiana. Construction of the dredge was completed in the spring of 2022, and the dredge arrived in Dare County on August 19, 2022.
Miss Katie is managed by the Oregon Inlet Task Force and able to operate up to 12 hours a day (weather permitting)—providing the strategic dredging that is needed to keep area waterways open and navigable for commercial and recreational vessels.
To learn more about the Miss Katie and how this new dredge will provide desperately needed solution to the shoaling-related issues in Dare County, watch the video below on Dare County's YouTube channel.
Find Miss Katie
Use the link below to track the "Miss Katie" dredge on Marine Traffic.
