HURRICANE MILTON UPDATE - SHIPPING LANES RE-OPENED:
Port Tampa Bay has resumed vessel operations and our port’s shipping channels are officially re-opened, with vessel movements restricted to daylight hours. Throughout the storm, Port Tampa Bay coordinated with federal, state, and local agencies, as well as the maritime community, to respond to the impacts of Hurricane Milton.
In coordination with the Port Heavy Weather Advisory Group, and following detailed assessments of the port, waterways, and channels, the U.S. Coast Guard has reopened the port and set the port condition to normal, with a daylight hour restriction and one-way travel. Port staff fully assessed the docks, wharfs, and terminals for safety. Commercial vessel traffic is again being queued for a return to full operations at the port, meaning we are open for business. Some of the first vessels to return will be fuel tankers, cruise ships and vessels carrying perishable cargo.
There will be changes to the following cruise schedules: Carnival Paradise, Royal Caribbean Serenade of the Seas, Royal Caribbean Grandeur of the Seas, Royal Caribbean Enchantment of the Seas and Margaritaville at Sea Islander. If you have any questions about a specific sailing, we recommend you contact your cruise line directly as all changes to itineraries will be communicated by your cruise line. The customer service lines for the impacted cruise lines are:
Carnival Cruise Line: 1-800-764-7419
Margaritaville at Sea: 1-800-814-7100
Royal Caribbean International: 1-800-256-6649
Port Tampa Bay's fuel supply remains adequate. Following Hurricane Milton, our fuel terminals lost power, preventing them from distributing fuel to the community. On Friday, Oct. 11, 2024, power was restored to all seven private fuel terminals. Each terminal performed, or is in the process of completing, a necessary and thorough safety test to ensure their facilities could discharge fuel without incident. A majority of our fuel terminal operators have begun discharging to fuel trucks, which will then deliver it to gas stations for the public. We expect all to be operational by the end of the day.
Fuel has once again begun flowing to our region and more and more will continue to leave our port and get to the community and region most in need. Port Tampa Bay leaders have remained in close contact with Governor Ron DeSantis and local, state and federal lawmakers and government agencies about our fuel supply.
We want to express our sincere appreciation to those who helped our port prepare and recover from the impact of the storm. The port’s Operations, Security, Facilities and Engineering staff, maritime community, the U.S. Coast Guard, and our local law enforcement and emergency response agencies were critical to our ability to minimize the effects of the storm and help our port to return to operations as soon as safely possible. Our thoughts and prayers are with everyone who was impacted by Hurricane Milton.