Hurricane Florence Update #1

2018-09-11

Crowley’s Corporate Emergency Management Team is monitoring Hurricane Florence, which is currently heading towards North Carolina’s coast with landfall expected Friday morning. According to the latest weather advisory by Storm-Geo, the storm is currently 910 miles east-southeast of Wilmington, NC. Maximum winds are 125 mph, making Florence a Category 3 hurricane with further strengthening expected.

Safety is Crowley’s No.1 core value, and as such, we are taking all appropriate steps to ensure the safety of personnel, including our mariners, vessels and your cargo.  We are coordinating with our vessels to reroute them as needed away from the storm. This may result in delayed sailings. Our Crowley team has also made appropriate preparations at shore-side facilities to protect people, equipment and cargo. Their status is as follows: 

• The Port of Wilmington is currently operating under condition X-Ray which means gale force winds are expected to arrive at the port within 48 hours.

  • The port remains open with normal gate and operations Tuesday, September 11. However, we encourage you not to drop off additional cargo or equipment after today.  

• At 6 a.m. EST on Wednesday, our Wilmington terminal will move to condition Yankee, which means gale force winds are predicted within 24 hours.

  • During this time, the port is expected to remain open for import cargo pick up only. 

  • However, by 12:00 p.m. Wednesday the port may be closed depending on the updated weather forecast.

• All vessels must be out of port and the channel cleared by 6 p.m. on Wednesday.

• The Port of Wilmington is expected to be moved to condition Zulu by Thursday, which means gale force winds are expected within 12 hours and the port is closed. 

For alternatives to meet your supply chain needs and for the latest information on our sailing schedules, please visit www.crowley.com. 

We will continue to update you as port conditions change, and as the trajectory of the storm develops.