Inside look at a vessel that is helping to deepen the Cape Fear River

SOUTHPORT, NC (WWAY) — If you’ve ever been in Southport, you may have seen massive ships making their way to and from the Port of Wilmington.

However, many people don’t realize the amount of work done to make sure those ships can safely navigate throughout the Cape Fear River.

Every day, tens of thousands of cubic yards of sand, mud and other material are being dredged from the seabed at the entrance of the Cape Fear River.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers 300-foot long hopper dredge “Mcfarland” has been working nonstop for the past 23 days.

Captain Stanley Kostka said that due to storms, runoff, and water currents, the river’s depth had been reduced, which could limit ship traffic entering and leaving the Port of Wilmington.

“We are actually effectively removing the high spots in the channel,” Kostka said. “The goal is to maintain a project depth of 44 feet. We are actively removing anything that’s above that to maintain that depth so that ships can safely make passage to Wilmington.”

Kostka said when the “McFarland” arrived, parts of the river were as shallow as 38 feet.

The ongoing work aims to restore the channel to 44 feet, allowing larger ships to navigate the Cape Fear River.

Built in 1967, the “McFarland” uses two large drag-heads to clear material from the seabed the can hold more than 3,000 cubic yards of material.

The ship’s second in command, Chris Demello, said no other dredge along the East Coast could handle this job right now.

“The Army Corps dredges are doing work that commercial dredges can not,” Demello said. “Either they’re busy doing other work, or it’s a slightly difficult job to do. There’s not quite enough for them to make it worth it. If we’re not here to do it, I don’t think it would get done.”

The “McFarland” will continue dredging around the clock until April 15th.