Houston Ship Channel Reopens

zoom The Houston Ship Channel reopened to commercial traffick on Wednesday afternoon after being closed for two days amid Tropical Storm Bill. Boarding of inbound and outbound vessels started at 1815 hrs GMT, the US Coast Guard said. Operations were resumed as the storm has been downgraded to a tropical depression located North of Austin. However, heavy squalls continue throughout the area, GAC said in an update. All ports in the Houston Sector have now resumed normal operations. However, ship movements will only resume after offshore weather conditions improve, the update reads. Agents were advised that if any ships are in dire need of bunkers, they should contact USCG VTS for priority arrangements. USCBP Houston Seaport granted blanket extensions of clearance until normal operations resume. Houston Pilots closed the channel for outbound traffic at 1400 hrs June 15th. U.S. Coast Guard had set Hurricane Condition Whiskey for the ports of Brownsville, Corpus Christi and Victoria, effective 10:00 a.m. on Monday June 15, 2015. Galveston-Texas City Pilots and Brazos Pilots stopped operations around dusk on Monday. Port Freeport was closed as well.   World Maritime News Staff