Maersk Line Hurricane Irma Update [September 7, 2017 1100 EDT]

posted by AJOT | Sep 08 2017 at 09:24 AM | Liner Shipping

Based on the latest information from the national hurricane center, government agencies, and terminal partners on the gulf coast of the United States, Maersk Line as activated the Incident Management Center for Maersk Line to review the situation around-the-clock. We will provide you with updates to keep you informed of the operational impact to cargo operations in North America. We would like to provide you with the following update (as of 8pm EST September 7, 2017): Hurricane Irma (category 5) is moving toward the west-northwest near 16 mph (26 km/h), and this general motion is expected to continue for the next couple of days with some decrease in forward speed. On the forecast track, the eye of Irma should continue to move near the Turks and Caicos Islands and toward the southeastern Bahamas this evening. The core of the hurricane will then move between the north coast of Cuba and the Bahamas during the next day or two. Maximum sustained winds remain near 175 mph (280 km/h) with higher gusts. Irma is a category 5 hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale. Some fluctuations in intensity are likely during the next day or two, but Irma is forecast to remain a powerful category 4 or 5 hurricane during the next couple of days. The combination of a life-threatening storm surge and large breaking waves will raise water levels above normal tide levels within the hurricane warning area near and to the north of the center of Irma. Near the coast, the surge will be accompanied by large and destructive waves. Port Operations Freeport

Port Condition: X-Ray – 48-hour notice of gale force winds.
Gate Status: Closed.
Vessel Operations: Closed. All terminal operations have ceased.

Miami

Port Condition: X-Ray – 48-hour notice of gale force winds.
Gate Status: Closed.
Vessel Operations: Open. All vessel operations to cease by 0800/Sep 8.

Port Everglades

Port Condition: X-Ray – 48-hour notice of gale force winds.
Gate Status: Closed. Closed at 1700 today. Import gates only.
Vessel Operations: Closed – No Maersk Line services scheduled to work.

Jacksonville

Port Condition: Whiskey – 72-hour notice of gale force winds.
Gate Status: Open. Will close Friday.
Vessel Operations: Open. Will close Friday.

Savannah

Port Condition: Whiskey – 72-hour notice of gale force winds.
Gate Status: Open. Gate Operations will continue until close of normal business Friday Sept 8, 2017.
Export Receiving will be managed closely. All 9 day windows will continue, but only 1 vessel in each service will be open for receiving at a time.
All Hazardous and Reefer receiving will be discontinued until reopening.
Gate 8 will be closed Friday Sept 8, 2017, due to no empty operations at terminal
Vessel Operations: Open. Vessel Operations will cease at 2400 on Friday Sept 8, 2017. TA3 MSC Karlskrona and MECL Maersk Columbus (last vessels working prior to closure)

Charleston

Port Condition: Whiskey – 72-hour notice of gale force winds
Gate Status: Open. Normal gate hours are planned through and including Saturday, September 9.
Vessel Operations: Open. Vessel operations are expected to continue through Saturday night.

Wilmington

Port Condition: Whiskey – 72-hour notice of gale force winds
Gate Status: Open. Normal hours.
Vessel Operations: Open. Normal hours – weekend closure expected.

Vessel Operations View PDF Additional vessel schedule changes will be communicated as they are confirmed. Maersk Line Marine Operations is working with port and local staff to expedite this process. Demurrage & Detention

Maersk Line has stopped its demurrage & detention clock as follows:
In Miami, from Thursday September 7th until further notice given closure status.
In Port Everglades from September 7th for import and export detention, and September 8th for demurrage, until further notice given operational status.
The demurrage & detention clock will resume upon the re-opening of the terminals. Containers within freetime will have their freetime resume at that time. Containers with demurrage or detention charges will resume accruing charges at that time.

Rail Service CSX CSX continues to see terminal congestion in Memphis, Atlanta, and Nashville. CSX is taking precautionary measures to protect employees, rail traffic and infrastructure from potential risks if Hurricane Irma makes landfall impacting areas of the CSX network. At this time, it is not known the level of impact the hurricane will have on CSX operations but it’s path and intensity are being closely monitored. Based on the projected landfall in Florida, CSX has started positioning locomotives and railcars out of their operating areas in Central Florida for staging in the Jacksonville area. The path of the hurricane will continue to be monitored and CSX will make plans to protect equipment further norther in Georgia and South Carolina as necessary. CSX Engineering is actively preparing potentially impacted areas prior to the storm making landfall in the United States, including staging compressors, generators, ballast and work equipment. Intermodal traffic destined to FEC locations in Florida will be temporarily discontinued starting at 1700 on Thursday 9/7 until further notice. hursday 9/7 until further notice. Norfolk Southern Similar to CSX, the NS is taking precautionary measures to protect employees, rail traffic and their network infrastructure while monitoring the hurricane’s projected path. The potential network impact is unknown at this time and no operational changes have been announced as of yet. FEC FEC continues to closely monitor the path of Hurricane Irma which is currently moving towards the east coast of Florida. Given Irma’s current track and forecasted path, FEC expects operations to be impacted by the storm and plans to make the following adjustments to operating plans: Train Service

FEC plans to close acceptance of interchange traffic from CSX & NS mid-day Thursday Sept 7th.
On Thursday Sept 7th, FEC will run limited train service. (One Southbound train ex Jacksonville & Two Northbound trains ex Miami)
On Friday Sept 8th there will be no mainline or local train service on FEC’s network.

Terminal Hours / Operations FEC Terminals will no longer accept in-gate traffic based on the below noted times: Thursday Sept 7th