Fishing yacht runs aground and begins taking on water, Coast Guard says. Nine rescued

Nine people were rescued from a 43-foot fishing yacht that ran aground and began sinking off the North Carolina coast, officials say.

The Coast Guard responded to a call on the morning of Aug. 19 about a vessel that had run aground near Wanchese, the agency said in an Aug. 20 news release.

The vessel ripped a hole in its rudder post mount and dislodged the port drive shaft, according to the U.S. Coast Guard Station Oregon Inlet. The two areas began “severely taking on water,” the agency said.

Crews controlled the flooding and offloaded enough water using pumps that the boat could be towed to a haul out, with the help of TowBoatU.S., the agency said.

“This case serves as a reminder of how dangerous the shoaling in the area can be,” the Coast Guard said in the release.

Shoaling can occur as water depth gets shallower and the wave behavior changes, potentially causing dangerous situations for boats, according to Science Direct.

“Luckily everybody involved was unharmed and made it home safely,” the agency said.

This story was originally published August 21, 2023 at 11:53 AM with the headline "Fishing yacht runs aground and begins taking on water, Coast Guard says. Nine rescued."