At 5:20 a.m. this morning, February 4, National Park Service Rangers were called out to assist the United States Coast Guard and Hatteras Island Rescue Squad in a search for an overturned vessel near Cape Point. The vessel, a shrimp trawler named Big John out of Wanchese, was found broken apart a half mile north of Cape Hatteras National Seashore off-road vehicle (ORV) ramp 49 near Frisco.

The three-person crew of the Big John was found alive and crew members were taken by ambulance to the hospital for medical evaluations. The cause of the accident is unknown.

Due to a large debris field created by the Big John, the beach between ORV ramps 48 and 49 is temporarily closed. The debris field contains nails, wood and other potentially hazardous objects. Once the beach is cleared it will be reopened. For beach access updates, go to http://go.nps.gov/beachaccess.

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