A number of cruise lines have changed their routes ahead of hurricane Florence. Namely, Royal Caribbean, Carnival Cruise Line, and Norwegian Cruise Line altered their itineraries in order to avoid the hurricane, which was said to become a major hurricane by Monday, September 10.
During the weekend, the hurricane was 560 miles northeast of the northern Leeward Islands, with its speed reaching 90 miles per hour. As a result, the cruise companies decided to monitor the situation, should the storm strengthens.
[smlsubform prepend=”GET THE SAFETY4SEA IN YOUR INBOX!” showname=false emailtxt=”” emailholder=”Enter your email address” showsubmit=true submittxt=”Submit” jsthanks=false thankyou=”Thank you for subscribing to our mailing list”]
A year ago, Hurricane Harvey, the most powerful storm to hit the US in more than a decade, made landfall on the central Texas coast and severely disrupted oil production and refining operations in the region. More than 300,000 barrels per day (b/d) of offshore oil production was taken offline and an estimated 3 million b/d of refining capacity was shut down.
As Poten and Partners said:
We cannot predict how disruptive this year’s hurricane season is going to be, but with the continued growth of the oil & gas infrastructure in the U.S. Gulf, any significant storm hitting the Gulf Coast increases the risk of disruption to the oil and tanker markets.
Last week, tropical storm Gordon, the first major weather event of the 2018 hurricane season, carved through the eastern Gulf of Mexico, making landfall just west of the Alabama-Mississippi border. While this storm caused minimal property damage, it reminded of the risks facing the energy sector in the US Gulf.
