Pilots on the Houston Ship Channel ceased boarding all vessels Friday morning local time due to Hurricane Harvey making its initial assault on the Texas coast, a US Coast Guard report said. Pilots had stopped boarding inbound vessels at noon Thursday, but continued boarding outbound ships to clear out the port in preparation for the hurricane’s landfall. Pilots stopped boarding all ships at 6:30 am CDT (1130 GMT) Friday. Galveston pilots had a similar situation. Article continues below… “We haven’t moved a ship since noon [Thursday],” a dispatcher said. “We’re not authorized to. The Coast Guard makes that decision.” Heading north along the Texas coast, pilots on the Sabine Pass and at Port Neches had normal traffic flows, with one daylight-restricted vessel starting the inbound transit at 5:00 am. No daylight-restricted ships were scheduled to set sail Friday, a port report said. Daylight-restricted vessels are those whose width is […]