Passenger Ferry Service at Cape Romain National Wildlife Refuge Met Federal Safety Requirements

This report presents the results of our unannounced inspection August 16, 2018, of passenger ferry safety aboard ferry service to Bulls Island in the Cape Romain National Wildlife Refuge, Awendaw, SC. The objective of our inspection was to determine whether Coastal Expeditions, Inc., a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) concessionaire, operated its ferry service to Bulls Island in compliance with Federal safety requirements. Specifically, each of its two vessels had a U.S. Coast Guard Certificate of Inspection on board, carried enough life vests for all passengers, had fire extinguishers available that had been inspected regularly, and carried first aid kits. In addition, crew members possessed current operating licenses and CPR certifications, and passed random drug tests. While we inspected both ferries, the concessionaire’s largest ferry was the only one in use during the period of our inspection and we found that it did not carry more passengers than allowed.