Update 2: US East Coast Ports in Lockdown ahead of Matthew

October 7, 2016

Major seaports in Georgia and South Carolina will shut down their operations in the following few days ahead of the expected arrival of Hurricane Matthew.

The Georgia Ports Authority (GPA) has closed the terminals at the Port of Brunswick until October 10, 2016.

Port of Savannah terminals will be closed to truck traffic on October 7, and October 8, 2016, at Garden City Terminal and Ocean Terminal.

According to GPA, vessel activity is expected to resume on October 9, 2016.

GPA said it may resume normal operations on October 10, 2016, if conditions allow, and Garden City Terminal should resume container truck gate operations through all interchange gates on the same day.

In addition, South Carolina Ports also said its cargo terminals in Charleston and Georgetown will be closed on October 7 and October 8, 2016. South Carolina Ports anticipates resuming normal gate hours on October 10, 2016.

Matthew is a category 3 hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale. Although some additional weakening is forecast during the next 48 hours, Matthew is expected to be a powerful category 3 hurricane as it moves near the coast of Florida, GAC informed.

The center of the hurricane will be moving near or over the east coast of the Florida peninsula through tonight, October 7, and near or over the coasts of Georgia and South Carolina on Saturday, October 8, 2016, according to GAC.

The port condition Zulu has been set at the ports of Jacksonville and Fernandina. Upon the setting of condition Zulu, ports are closed.

All personnel in the barrier islands of Brevard County including Port Canaveral have been evacuated. Following this, the Seaport Canaveral Terminal operations have been suspended.

Additionally, the USCG has set port condition Yankee for the ports of Tampa, Big Bend, Bocca Grande, Bradenton, Cedar Key, Charlotte, East Bay, Egmont Key, Fort Myers Beach, Fowey Rocks, Hillsborough Bay, Manatee, Port Manatee, Port Sutton, Rattlesnake, Rockport, Sand Key, Sarasota, St. Petersburg, and Weedon Island.

Under the port condition Yankee, no vessels may enter, transit or remain within this safety zone without the permission of the Captain of the Port (COPT).

World Maritime News Staff