Cape May-Lewes Ferry resumes operations after World War II-era explosive forced shutdown
One ferry was forced back to Delaware after officials discovered the unexploded ordinance during low tide.
The Cape May-Lewes Ferry resumed normal operations Tuesday after the discovery of a World War II-era explosive shut down the Cape May Canal overnight.
Officials discovered the unexploded ordnance during low tide Monday evening, prompting the Coast Guard to close the canal until daylight Tuesday morning, according to Delaware River and Bay Authority spokesperson James Salmon.
A bomb squad from Atlantic City was dispatched to deactivate the explosive device, and the ferry resumed operations at 10:30 a.m. Tuesday.
One ferry en route to Cape May on Monday night had to be turned back to Delaware, creating confusion for the 70 passengers on board and stranding several who walked onto the boat.
Dave Norcross, a Rio Grande, N.J., resident who was on the ferry with his 9-year-old daughter, said officials offered to drive stranded passengers home to New Jersey on a trolley. After spending several hours in the Delaware terminal, Norcross said, he and his daughter finally arrived back at Cape May around 6:30 a.m. Tuesday.
“I’ve rode that boat probably 2,000 times,” Norcross said. “I’ve never seen anything like this.”
It’s not the first time World War II explosives have been discovered in the area. In 2014, several blocks were evacuated in Middle Township after a woman turned in a discarded explosive.
During World War II, Naval Air Station Wildwood — which now hosts a museum — was used by the Navy as a training base for dive bomber squadrons that went on to fight in the Pacific. That included planes dropping bombs and ordnance in the Delaware Bay.
“So this isn’t out of the ordinary,” Salmon said.