Ports, carriers adjust for Tropical Storm Noel

Ports, carriers adjust for Tropical Storm Noel Tropical Storm Noel, which has produced heavy rains that have caused deadly flooding in the Caribbean, forced steamship lines to adjust operations today and Tuesday as the storm moved slowly toward the Bahamas.
   Sailings from Florida to the Bahamas were cancelled Wednesday, and carriers adjusted sailing times for services to other Caribbean locations because of the storm.
   Ports in the Bahamas and Florida remained open today, but the U.S. Coast Guard Captain of the Port for South Florida ordered Port Everglades to close its offshore anchorage area — where there have been a handful of ship groundings over the last two years — and issued a 'Condition Whiskey' advisory Tuesday for the ports of Miami, Port Everglades and Palm Beach. That is the third-highest storm warning level, meaning there could be dangerous wind conditions developing within 72 hours.
   The Coast Guard also issued a notice to the ports to be on the alert in the event weather conditions turned worse, which could prompt the need to implement storm plans and take more advanced precautions such as securing containers.
   Port Everglades issued a warning to waterfront facilities to remove potential flying debris and to consider container stacking plans that would limit stacking to no more than four high.
   Tropical Shipping said it has cancelled sailings today from the Port of Palm Beach to Freeport and Nassau in the Bahamas, and opted for an early departure for its Wednesday sailing carrying cargo for a dozen Caribbean islands to beat the storm before it got further north.
   Seaboard Marine cancelled its Monday sailing from Miami to Nassau, and said there would be no sailings to the Bahamas at least through Thursday. Seaboard closed its Nassau office Tuesday to allow for storm preparations and said it would probably remain closed all day today.
   G&G Shipping, a Bahamas market specialist that offers sailings from its Port Laudania terminal adjacent to Port Everglades, said it would have no sailings until this weekend, although it would continue its receiving operations in Florida.
   There had been 30 deaths reported from storm-related floods in the Dominican Republic. The Dominican Navy started operating ferries today to towns in the southern part of the country that had cut off by flooding, according to a report in Dominican Today.
   The Nassau Guardian reported today that there was already heavy flooding on Acklands Island, but there were no reports of deaths. On other islands surveyed, there were heavy winds but rains were not severe enough to cause flooding, although the worst of the storm was not scheduled to arrive until late today or Thursday.