| JETTY CLOSURE FOR MAINTENANCE WORK Teesport, UK |
| SHIP CHANNEL RE-OPENED Houston, USA |
| BOARDING SUSPENDED DUE TO ROUGH SEAS Corpus Christi, USA |
| TRANSIT RESTRICTIONS INTRODUCED Stockton, USA |
| DEEPENING OF SHIPPING CHANNEL Gladstone, Australia |
| STRONGEST EASTERN NORTH PACIFIC HURRICANE ON RECORD HEADING FOR POTENTIALLY CATASTROPHIC LANDFALL Southwestern Mexico |
| CHANGE TO DOCUMENTS FOR CREW CHANGES Turkey |
| Jetty closure for maintenance work |
| Friday, October 23, 2015, Teesport, UK |
| Essential annual maintenance works will be carried out at the Vopak Jetty 2 in Teesport on Tuesday 27 October. To accommodate the work, the jetty will be closed between 0800 and 1800 hours local time.For information about operations in the UK contact GAC UK at uk@gac.com |
| Ship Channel re-opened |
| Friday, October 23, 2015, Houston, USA |
| As of 1514 hours local time yesterday (22 October), the Houston Ship Channel in the vicinity of Kinder Morgan Galena Park is open to all traffic.For information about operations in the USA contact GAC USA at usa@gac.com |
| Boarding suspended due to rough seas |
| Friday, October 23, 2015, Corpus Christi, USA |
| The Aransas Corpus Christi Pilots suspended boarding vessels for inbound and outbound traffic from the Port of Corpus Christi due to rough seas at 1455 CDT yesterday (22 October).UPDATE: The Aransas Corpus Christi Pilots will resume boarding vessels for outbound traffic from the Port of Corpus Christi beginning at 0930 hours local time today (23 October).
For information about operations in the USA contact GAC USA at usa@gac.com |
| Transit restrictions introduced |
| Friday, October 23, 2015, Stockton, USA |
| The Stockton Pilots have been monitoring the water hyacinth on the San Joaquin for the past several months. The density has been increasing and is once again becoming a safety concern. We have also noticed the first signs of the winter “tule-fog”. The combination of dense water-hyacinth floating on the water which shows on the radar as a target and makes it almost impossible to see the channel edges and the first signs of tule-fog, make for transiting the San Joaquin River during dark hours unsafe.Therefore, due to the high concentration of water-hyacinth and the beginning of the fog on the San Joaquin River and the Stockton Deep Water Ship Channel, the Stockton Commissioned Pilots are restricting movements on the San Joaquin to daylight only (DLO) up-river from New York Point. This will begin at 0600 on Thursday, October 22, 2015. The Pilots will continue to monitor the situation on the San Joaquin River and when the conditions change, we will inform you about the changes in these restrictions. (For information about operations in the USA contact GAC USA at usa@gac.com) Source: Notification from Commissioned Stockton and Sacramento Pilot |
| Deepening of shipping channel |
| Friday, October 23, 2015, Gladstone, Australia |
| Gladstone Ports Corporation will spend about $100 million deepening a shipping channel near the RG Tanna Coal Terminal. The project will remove two million cubic metres of dredging from the Clinton by-pass channel as a safety measure to protect ships berthed at the coal terminal.Currently, the channel is 13 metres deep, sufficient for the shallow draft LNG vessels and other Panamax ships which have traditionally travelled to wharves above the coal terminal. With the advent of the Wiggins Island Coal Export terminal, deeper draft Cape Class will be needed, hence the project to deepen the channel to 16m.
For information about operations in Australia contact GAC Australia at shipping.australia@gac.com |
| Strongest eastern North Pacific hurricane on record heading for potentially catastrophic landfall |
| Friday, October 23, 2015, Southwestern Mexico |
| At 700 AM CDT (1200 UTC), the eye of Hurricane Patricia was located near latitude 17.3 North, longitude 105.6 West. Patricia is moving toward the north-northwest near 12 mph (19 km/h). A turn toward the north is expected later this morning, followed by a turn toward the north-northeast this afternoon. On the forecast track, the core of Patricia will make landfall in the hurricane warning area this afternoon or evening.Maximum sustained winds remain near 200 mph (325 km/h) with higher gusts. Patricia is a category 5 hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale. Some fluctuations in intensity are possible today, but Patricia is expected to remain an extremely dangerous Category 5 hurricane through landfall.
Hurricane force winds extend outward up to 30 miles (45 km) from the center and tropical storm force winds extend outward up to 175 miles (280 km). The estimated minimum central pressure is 880 mb (25.99 inches). WIND: RAINFALL: STORM SURGE: SURF: (For information about operations in Mexico, and elsewhere in the Americas, contact the GAC Americas Hub Agency Center at hub.us@gac.com) Source: National Hurricane Center, Miami Fl, Hurricane Patricia Intermediate Advisory No.14A issued at 700am CDT on Friday, 23 October 2015 Southwestern Mexico |
| Change to documents for crew changes |
| Friday, October 23, 2015, Turkey |
| Effective this month, medical certificate will be required for all crew members involved in cre changes at Turkish ports.The documents required during crew change from officers are: – Passport (valid at least 65 days) – Seaman’s book – Original flag endorsements – Medical certificate *** and from crew and visitors: For information about operations in Turkey contact GAC Turkey at turkey@gac.com |
