Tropical Storm Katrina – Update

November 12, 2010

2005-08-24

Update – 08/30/05 – 11:15am

Tropical Storm Katrina:
The storm is now centered over the Western Tennessee region and is forecasted to decrease to a Tropical Depression later today.

Railroads:
CSX is imposing an embargo on all traffic into and out of the Mobile, Alabama and New Orleans, Louisiana area effective immediately and will not be lifted until further notice. Traffic between Englewood, TX and their Southern terminals will be held at origin until it is deemed safe to move.

CSX has advised that they will protect traffic from the Southeast to the West Coast via a diverted route from Atlanta to St. Louis every other day. This route will be used by both CSX and the UP. Crowley personnel are working with CSX and truckers to insure the safest route and best possible alternatives when moving cargo.

Vessels:
Katrina poses no direct threat to the Puerto Rico & Caribbean vessel schedule.

Terminals:
Gulfport, MS terminal is closed.

Offices:
Crowley’s New Orleans office is closed until further notice.

Please rely on www.crowley.com for additional schedule changes and operations updates should there be any. Crowley sailing schedules are always available by visiting https://www.crowley.com/liner-shipping-services/services.asp.

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Update – 08/29/05 – 5:00pm

United States Coast Guard mandated Gulfport, MS port closure at 2400 Saturday, August 27, 2005.

Terminals/Offices:
Crowley’s New Orleans office is closed pending an “all clear” from local and federal regulatory officials after the passage of Hurricane Katrina. Re-opening of the New Orleans office and re-opening of the port to ship traffic is only a guess at this moment. For ship traffic to be allowed to enter Gulfport, the Unites States Coast Guard must do a complete survey of the channel at each port reporting hurricane conditions. Due to the enormity of this storm, the time and human resources required to look at New Orleans, Gulfport, and Mobile will be lengthy. This entails checking for and replacing buoys and aids to navigation, soundings for shoaling and any other navigation hazards. In the past, lesser events of this nature have taken several days.

Vessels:
M/V Senator sailing directly to Puerto Cortez scheduled to return to Gulfport next Thursday, subject to confirmation.

M/V Express is sailing south to Santo Tomas and Puerto Cortez on a track to avoid the heavy weather generated by the storm.

M/V Ro Ro Gothica is northbound, but holding below the storm waiting for further instructions.

At this moment it is too soon to make any accurate prediction on when the port will open, since we are completely without communication. Once the storm passes and we can determine when operations can safely commence, we will inform accordingly.

We appreciate your patience throughout this ordeal and we will provide further updates as information becomes available.

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Update 08/29/05 – 11:00am

Hurricane Katrina:
At this time the center of Hurricane Katrina is moving ashore into southeast Louisiana just east of Grand Isle. Movement has increased to the north at 18 mph. Winds have decreased considerably from yesterday afternoon, but Katrina may still produce sustained wind of 120 -135 mph with higher gusts across southeast Louisiana and along the western coast of Mississippi. This makes Katrina a strong Category Three/minimal Category Four storm.

On its current track, Katrina’s eastern eye wall will move across Chandeleur Sound and into the coast of Mississippi between Bay St. Louis and Gulfport, MS later this morning. As Katrina continues moving ashore, its winds are predicted to decrease and could produce a storm surge of 12-18 feet along its eastern eye wall across the west to west-central coast of Mississippi later this morning. Farther east, we expect a surge of 8-12 feet in the Biloxi area and 7-9 feet in Pascagoula. In Mobile Bay, the surge will probably be 5-7 feet.

Although Katrina poses no direct threat to the Puerto Rico & Caribbean vessel schedule, Intermodal services will be affected. We will have a better idea what that impact will be once the storm passes.

Terminals:
The Port Everglades terminal reopened Saturday, August 27th for delivery and pick-ups and is fully operational today. Gulfport, MS terminal is closed.

Offices:
The Port Everglades Terminal office and Miami office are both open and fully operational. Our New Orleans office and the New Orleans rail-ramp are both closed until further notice.

Vessels and Schedules:

The Wesetor voyage 69s is working in Nassau today and will arrive Tuesday night into Jacksonville and Thursday into Port Everglades. The Sea Gale worked as advised on Saturday and is keeping to last updated schedule as follows: arrival in Saint Thomas on August 30th, Saint Croix on August 31st and Trinidad on September 1st. All Barbados and Saint Vincent cargo will be offloaded in Saint Croix and relayed on the Sea Cloud voyage 35s. Estimated availability of cargo in Barbados is on September 8th and Saint Vincent on September 9th.

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8/26/05- 11:00 am EST

Storm Status:
Hurricane Katrina- At this time, Hurricane Katrina is located 45 miles North -Northwest of Key West, Florida, moving to the west at 6 mph. Maximum sustained winds are 75 mph, with gusts up to 100 mph.

Hurricane force winds extend outward up to 25 miles from the center and tropical storm force winds extend outward up to 85 miles. Katrina is expected to produce additional rainfall of 5-8 inches and isolated tornadoes are possible today in Southern Florida and the Florida Keys.

Terminals:
The U.S. Coast Guard dictated a full closure for Port Everglades yesterday extending through today. Ships have been moved away from the port for safety and no vehicular traffic is permitted in or out of the Port. We still have plans to reopen the Port on Saturday, August 27th with normal gate hours (0700-2200).

Offices:
At this time the Port Everglades Terminal office and the company’s Miami offices are closed. Please also note that large areas in South Florida are without power including both the Port Everglades Terminal and the Miami office. We anticipate being able to open the terminal office on Saturday, August 27th. We also intend to do rail pick-ups and handle any carriers wishing to drop or pick up loaded or empty equipment on Saturday. No intermodal activities will be possible until Monday, August 29th. We will continue to update you as conditions change.

Vessels and Schedules:
The Wesetor voyage 68n departed Nassau at 1300 last night and is estimated to arrive Jacksonville Saturday night. The Sea Gale is slated to work at 0700 Saturday morning in Port Everglades with an estimated arrival in St. Thomas on Tuesday, August 30th. Current schedule for the Sea Gale has been abbreviated to try to make up for lost time. It is as follows: Departs Port Everglades Saturday August 27th, arrive Saint Thomas on August 30th, Saint Croix on August 31st and Trinidad on September 1st. All Barbados and Saint Vincent cargo will be offloaded in Saint Croix and relayed on the Sea Cloud voyage 35s. Estimated availability of cargo in Barbados on September 8th and Saint Vincent on September 9th.

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08/25/05 – 1:00pm EST

Storm Status:

Tropical Storm Katrina At this time Katrina is about 45 miles east of Ft. Lauderdale, Florida with maximum sustained winds estimated to be 50-55 mph. Movement is to the west at 5-7 mph. On its current track, Katrina’s center should move ashore between Fort Lauderdale and West Palm Beach later tonight or early Friday morning. Conditions are favorable for gradual strengthening. However, since Katrina has not strengthened as much as was expected overnight, the chances of it becoming a hurricane in the next 10-12 hours prior to landfall are reduced.

Terminals:
U.S. Coast Guard has dictated a full closure for Port Everglades as of this morning. Ships have been moved away from the port for safety and no vehicular traffic is permitted in or out of the Port. We anticipate plans to reopen the Port on Saturday, August 27th with normal gate hours (0700-2200).

Offices:

At this time the Port Everglades Terminal office and the companys Miami office is closed. The terminal office will not reopen until Saturday, August 27th. We anticipate rail pick-ups and being able to handle any carriers wishing to drop or pick up loaded or empty equipment on Saturday. No intermodal activities will be possible until Monday, August 29th. We will update you as more information becomes available.

Vessels and Schedules:

The Wesertor voyage 68s departed Port Everglades last night and shows ETA Bahamas of 2100 tonight. The Sea Gale has been held outside of the terminal until conditions are safe and Coast Guard allows the port to be reopened.

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08/24/05 – 4:30pm EST

Storm Status:
Tropical Storm Katrina Tropical Storm Katrina was about 200 miles east-southeast of Miami, FL. Maximum winds are now 45 mph. Movement is to the northwest 8 mph. Squalls are now developing closer to the center, an indication that Katrina is slowly getting better organized.

The slow movement to the northwest should continue for at least the next 2-3 days. This should bring the center of Tropical Storm Katrina to the southeast coast of Florida early Friday morning with winds in the 55-70 mph range.

Terminals:
We have been advised by the U.S. Coast Guard that they will close Port Everglades terminal at 2400 tonight to incoming vessel traffic. We anticipate the port to reopen sometime Friday. We will continue to keep you updated as more information becomes available.

Offices:
At this time all Crowley offices are open and operating as normal. We will continue to update you as conditions change.

Vessels and Schedules:
Currently the Wesertor voyage 68s is working in Port Everglades but may be delayed in reaching The Bahamas. There will also be a delay in loading and unloading the Sea Gale in Port Everglades. We will continue to update you as more information becomes available.