US East Coast Ports Brace for Hurricane Matthew

Port Canaveral The US Coast Guard has set port condition X-Ray for a number of ports in Florida and port condition Whiskey for one South Carolinas port in response to Hurricane Matthew, which is currently located in the Caribbean sea and moving towards the US East Coast. Effective October 4, 2016, the USCG set port condition X-Ray for Port Canaveral, Port of Key West, Port Miami, Miami River, Port Everglades, Port of Palm Beach, Port of Fort Pierce and all other South Florida terminals and facilities due to the expectation of sustained gale force winds of 25 mph and gusts up to 40 mph generated by Hurricane Matthew that may arrive within 48 hours. These ports and facilities are currently open to all commercial traffic and all transfer operations may continue while X-ray remains in effect. In addition, effective October 4, 2016, the USCG has set port condition Whiskey for the Port of Charleston due to the hurricane that may arrive within 72 hours. Matthew is a dangerous category 4 hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson scale with initial intensity of 125 kts with gusts to 150 kts, GAC informed. A slight weakening is expected during the next couple of days as the system interacts with land, but Matthew is expected to remain a powerful hurricane through at least October 5. The center of Matthew was expected to pass near southwestern Haiti on October 4, then turn N-NW-ward and move over eastern Cuba early on October 5 and over southeastern and central Bahamas on October 6, 2016. There is a risk that Matthew will have asevere effect along the US East Coast later this week and weekend, GAC said. World Maritime News Staff