North Carolina Ports see Florence damage and will remain closed until mid-week

Port of Wilmington is one of the smaller ports in Florence’s path.

Hurricane Florence’s destructive path will leave North Carolina’s main ports offline until mid-week.

The North Carolina Ports Authority says the initial assessments at the Port of Wilmington and the Port of Morehead City “indicate there is damage at both locations to warehouse and other structures, as well as a significant number of downed empty containers to be cleared.”

It say the ports will remain closed until Wednesday September 19 before deciding when they will open.

The Port of Wilmington is North Carolina’s main container ship port, while Port of Morehead City handles most oversized and bulk cargoes. Wilmington is one of the smaller ports in the path of Florence, with an average vessel size of 4,758 twenty foot equivalent unit (teu) making call on the port, compared to an average vessel size of 7,575 teu calling on Port of Charleston just to the South.

The South Carolina Ports Authority says the Charleston container terminal has resumed vessel operations with container gates opening tomorrow morning. Intermodal rail service through Norfolk Southern (NYSE: NSC) and CSX (Nasdaq: CSX) will also resume tomorrow. 

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