Hurricane Irene forces ships to alter schedules

WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 31: The island may have missed out on the havoc wreaked by Hurricane Irene but the shipping schedule has taken a bit of a battering.

This combined with the ongoing over time ban at Hamilton Docks has left all the container ships running behind time.

The Oleander set off from New Jersey a couple of hours earlier than usual last Friday and initially headed north to steer clear of the hurricane.

She did feel the brunt of some high winds and choppy seas as she headed southeast towards Bermuda.

Instead of coming in on Sunday evening she slowed up on her approach to the island and delayed her arrival until Monday morning, as there would have been no dockworkers to bring her alongside on Sunday evening.

The ship will stay here later than usual in order to load as many empty containers before she heads back to the US today.

Once back in America the Oleander will also remain in dock longer to allow her hurricane-hit suppliers more time to load up the ship with fresh produce. This all means the container vessel will set off from the States on Saturday and is due to be back in Bermuda again next Tuesday after the Labour Day holiday.

Irene has forced the Bermuda Islander and the Somers Isles to put back their arrival by a day too.

The Somers Isle hit rough seas on her trans-Atlantic journey and is now due to arrive tomorrow morning.

The hurricane also forced the Islander to leave a day later than planned and she will come into Hamilton on Friday.

Cruise ships

It’s uncertain at the moment when both container ships will leave as their agents are keen to get as many empty containers as possible back to the U.S.

Elsewhere it’s the usual duo of the Norwegian Gem and the Celebrity Summit arriving in Dockyard this morning for two days.

The Veendam also arrived in Hamilton today after bypassing St George’s — a day later than usual due to the after-effects of Hurricane Irene.

Finally the Norwegian Dawn makes up the shipping schedule this week arriving, as she will on Sunday at 11am.