By WECT Staff | December 2, 2020 at 5:11 PM EST – Updated December 2 at 11:23 PM
WRIGHTSVILLE BEACH, N.C. (WECT) – A brand new public safety boat, donated by Oak Grove Technologies, arrived in Wrightsville Beach Tuesday for shared use by the Police Department, Fire Department and Ocean Rescue service.
According to a Facebook post by the Wrightsville Beach Police Department, the idea to acquire a joint public safety boat to be used by all three departments came from Wrightsville Beach Fire Department and Ocean Rescue Captain Jeremy Owens, a much-loved individual who passed away in November.
In honor of Jeremy, the new boat will be named “Marine 81”.
“Having a boat available for shared use will support law enforcement training and increase public safety across the island,” said Wrightsville Beach Police Department Captain Jason Bishop.
Bishop said the new boat is more stable than the current public safety boat which will allow emergency personnel to respond to a wider variety of calls.
Oak Grove Technologies, headquartered in Raleigh, is a service-disabled veteran-owned small business that provides customized business and training solutions to Department of Defense, government agencies, law enforcement, healthcare, commercial and non-profit organizations.
According to Bishop, one of the Oak Grove business owners has a property in Wrightsville Beach.
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