Two of Florida's three largest ports – PortMiami and Fort Lauderdale's Port Everglades – are open again with cruise departures scheduled to take place as normal in the coming days.
The storm made landfall on Wednesday more than 100 miles south of Port Tampa Bay, which was the closest cruise port where the storm landed with winds of around 240 km/h. The storm weakened considerably as it moved across the state towards nearby Port Canaveral.
None of the three ports that are closed were directly in the path of Hurricane Ian, which caused devastating destruction and loss of life in parts of southwest Florida.
O segundo maior porto de cruzeiros do mundo foi fechado desde as 12h de quarta-feira e pode não reabrir para chegadas de navios de cruzeiro até sábado.
Assuming all is in order, two Royal Caribbean ships that were stranded at sea due to port closures – the Mariner of the Seas with 3,344 passengers and the Independence of the Seas with 3,858 passengers – will be able to return to Port Canaveral on Saturday.
The Jacksonville cruise port has been closed to maritime traffic since 12:00 pm EDT on Wednesday and there is still no set date or time to reopen.
As is the case with other closed ports in Florida, JAXPort cannot begin the process of reopening the port until the US Coast Guard lifts its declaration of a Zulu Port Condition for the port.
Port Tampa Bay - the main port in the Tampa area - has been closed to maritime traffic as of 8 am EDT Tuesday and there is still no set date or time to reopen.
the US Coast Guard was working with a port heavy weather advisory group to do a detailed assessment of the port, waterways and canals.
the port said its current priorities were "safety of life, protection of the environment and a full return to cargo and cruise operations".