Coast Guard Expects to Close South Florida Ports on Saturday Morning

From a report in the South Florida Business Journal:

The U.S. Coast Guard expects to close all of the ports in South Florida by Saturday morning if Hurricane Irma stays on its current trajectory, according to a spokesman for the Coast Guard.

The expected closures will affect PortMiami, Port Everglades, and Port of Palm Beach. No vessels may enter or transit within these ports without permission of the Captain of the Port starting on Saturday morning.

The Coast Guard will set the ports at Port Condition Zulu on Saturday morning, which means that all port operations will be suspended, according to a spokesman for the Coast Guard.

PortMiami and Broward County's Port Everglades are two of the U.S.'s largest cargo ports and handle millions of cruise passengers each year. Additionally, Port Everglades stores a significant portion of petroleum that supplies South Florida.

All three of the South Florida ports were operating under Port Condition Whiskey on Wednesday.

For Port Condition Whiskey, oceangoing vessels moored or at anchor should be prepared to head to the ports, and sustained winds between 39 and 54 mph are possible within 72 hours.

The Coast Guard will move the condition to Port Condition X-Ray on Thursday and Port Condition Yankee on Friday before moving to Zulu on Saturday morning, according to the spokesman. As the conditions move closer to Zulu, precautions for the vessels increase.