09/06/2019

Hurricane Dorian made landfall this morning over Cape Hatteras, NC, as a Category 1 hurricane with maximum sustained winds of 90 mph, after impacting areas of South Carolina yesterday and during the night. It is expected to move to the southeast of extreme southeastern New England Friday night and into Saturday morning.

Port Updates:

Florida > Miami, Port Everglades and Jacksonville are open and operating without restrictions

Georgia > Savannah (GCT) and Brunswick are open

South Carolina > Charleston and the Inland Ports in Dillon and Greer are open (vessel operation in Charleston to start at 19:00 today)

North Carolina > Wilmington and Morehead City are closed today, no reopen date scheduled yet

Virginia > Norfolk is closed

Your V. Alexander Account Team will closely monitor all cargo’s progress and will notify you immediately should your freight be affected by the port conditions.

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09/05/2019

The eye of Hurricane Dorian was located about 70 miles south/south-east of Charleston SC and about 170 miles south/south-west of Wilmington NC as of 08:00 EDT today, moving north-northeast at about 8 mph.

Port Updates:

Florida > Miami and Port Everglades are open / Jacksonville is closed and scheduled to reopen Friday morning

Georgia > Savannah (GCT) is closed and scheduled to reopen Friday morning

South Carolina > Charleston terminals are closed and scheduled to reopen Friday morning

North Carolina > Wilmington and Morehead City are closed Thursday and Friday, no reopen date scheduled yet

Virginia > the Port of Virginia has not issued a new bulletin as of this morning, so current status remains: at 16:00 on September 5 the US Coast Guard will set port condition Zulu for Hampton Roads, the ship channel for the Port of Norfolk, which means no vessel movements are allowed in the channel and the port, while landside operations will continue at the discretion of the terminal operators.

Your V. Alexander Account Team will closely monitor all cargo’s progress and will notify you immediately should your freight be affected by the port conditions.

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09/04/2019 – UPDATE 2

Port Updates:

Virginia > at 19:00 tonight the US Coast Guard will set port condition Yankee for Hampton Roads, the ship channel for the Port of Norfolk, followed by condition Zulu at 16:00 tomorrow, which means no vessel movements are allowed in the channel and the port, while landside operations will continue at the discretion of the terminal operators.

Your V. Alexander Account Team will closely monitor all cargo’s progress and will notify you immediately should your freight be affected by the port conditions.

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09/04/2019 – UPDATE 1

Port Updates:

South Carolina > Charleston terminals are still on the schedule reported yesterday (see below), in addition the Inland Port Dillon will close today at 18:00 and will reopen at 09:00 on Friday

North Carolina > Wilmington and Morehead City will be closed today (Port condition Zulu in Wilmington as of 16:00, in Morehead City as of 20:00), both ports will be closed Thursday and Friday

Your V. Alexander Account Team will closely monitor all cargo’s progress and will notify you immediately should your freight be affected by the port conditions.

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09/04/2019

Dorian, now a Category 2 hurricane and grown in size, seems to spare Florida from a full impact and it currently moving north towards Georgia and South Carolina, it is expected to bring heavy winds and rain to the three states although it is not clear yet if it will make landfall.

Port Updates:

Florida > Miami (SFCT) and Port Everglades (FIT) are open / Jacksonville (TraPac) is closed, TraPac is expected to reopen on Friday

Georgia > Savannah (GCT) is closed and expected to reopen Thursday

South Carolina > Charleston terminals are still on the schedule reported yesterday (see below)

North Carolina > Wilmington is closed today

Virginia > Norfolk is open with regular hours

Intermodal traffic is also impacted, railroads have cancelled inbound traffic into various closed ports and Intermodal Facilities in the ports are also closed.

Your V. Alexander Account Team will closely monitor all cargo’s progress and will notify you immediately should your freight be affected by the port conditions.

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09/03/2019

Dorian is currently stalled over the Bahamas as a Category 3 hurricane with top sustained winds of 120 mph. It is currently moving very slowly at 1 mph.

Over the Labor Day weekend it intensified into a category 5 hurricane and caused 5 fatalities as well as widespread wind and rain damage as well as flooding over the islands.

The storm is now threatening the US East Coast, evacuations have been ordered for parts of Florida, Georgia and South Carolina.

Port Updates:

Jacksonville: port condition Zulu is in effect, the port’s terminals remain closed to all commercial traffic for the duration of Hurricane Dorian and until cleared to reopen by the U.S. Coast Guard Captain of the Port for Sector Jacksonville.

Savannah: Georgia Ports Authority will shut down operations in both the Brunswick and Savannah locations on Tuesday, September 3, 2019 and Wednesday, September 4, 2019.

Charleston: normal operation on Tuesday, September 3, 2019. The port will be closed Wednesday, September 4, 2019 and Thursday, September 5, 2019 – it will reopen on Friday, September 6, 2019 at 9:00 am with regular hours currently being planned. The inland ports in Greer and Dillon are open with normal business hours.

Wilmington and Morehead City NC: port condition X-Ray is set. Both ports will operate with normal hours on Tuesday, September 3, 2019. The initially advised closure on Wednesday, September 4, 2019, has been revised and the ports will be open from 07:00 – 12:00.

Due to the port closures delays for international cargo have to be expected.

Airport near the East Coast of Florida are also restricting or cancelling air traffic which will lead to flight cancellations. The International Airport in Miami remains open and is no longer in the path of the storm, but due to flight cancellations delays with airfreight are also possible.

Your V. Alexander Account Team will closely monitor all cargo’s progress and will notify you immediately should your freight be affected by the port conditions.

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08/30/2019

Dorian, currently a Category 2 hurricane with sustained winds of 110 mph, is expected to further strengthen during his approach towards the Bahamas and the US East Coast.

It is currently foreseen to hit the northeastern Bahamas as a Category 3 hurricane on Sunday and to then proceed towards the Florida East Coast where it is expected to make landfall, possibly as a Category 4 hurricane, on Monday. It is expected that it will impact almost all of the Florida panhandle with hurricane force winds and heavy rain that can lead to extreme flooding especially in the counties on the East Coast.

The governor of Florida has expanded the state of emergency to all 67 counties in Florida.

Effective Thursday evening the US Coast Guard has set port condition X-Ray for the port of Miami, Jacksonville and Fernandina terminals (located north of Jacksonville). The ports remain open to commercial traffic while sustained winds between 39 and 54 mph are possible within 48 hours. All ocean-going commercial vessels and ocean-going barges greater than 500 gross tons should make plans for departing the port.

Should the storm remain on path towards Florida’s East Coast port closures have to expected which will lead to delays with cargo movements. The extend of the delays will only be known on Monday when the full impact of the storm can be assessed.

The International Airport Miami advises that it is monitoring the storm’s path and that it is “in the cone of concern”. Airlines are preparing to cancel and reroute flights which will impact international cargo scheduled to leave or Arrive Miami in the next few days.

Your V. Alexander Account Team will monitor the developments and will advise any delays your cargo might suffer from the situation.

We will post further updates once they become available.

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08/29/2019

Hurricane Dorian grew into a Category 1 hurricane before making landfall on the U.S. Virgin Islands Wednesday where it caused power outages and minor flooding. The storm did not hit Puerto Rico.

The National Hurricane Center excepts it to develop into a major hurricane by Friday, further strengthening over open waters while approaching the Bahamas and possibly also the US East Coast, with the most likely target there being Florida’s Atlantic coastal areas, where it could arrive as a Category 3 hurricane late Sunday or Monday morning.

The governor of Florida has declared a state of emergency.

The US Coast Guard Port Captain has set port hurricane condition Whiskey (meaning that gale force winds are expected within 72 hours, ports remain open but oceangoing ships must report their intention to remain in port or depart) for the ports of Miami, Jacksonville and Port Canaveral, and all ports are currently open without restrictions.

A tropical depression named Erin that briefly strengthened into a tropical storm Wednesday has weakened again and is expected to move north/north-east into open water.

Your V. Alexander Account Team will monitor the status of your cargo moving through the affected areas and will advise any delays caused by the approaching storms as soon as known.