Airport Shooting Delays Sailings From Port Everglades

UPDATE AS OF 5:15 P.M. FRIDAY: At this time normal operations have resumed at the Port, all gates are open for entry and exit.

Port Everglades — Late this afternoon, news broke that a shooter had opened fire at the Fort Lauderdale airport, killing five people and wounding several others. As a result, the nearby Port Everglades port — home to numerous cruise ships — tweeted that they would be “closed to all traffic due to the developing situation.”

At the time of the shooting, both Holland America’s ms Nieuw Amsterdam and Princess’ Caribbean Princess were docked, preparing for departure. But according to several sources, the departures have been temporarily delayed while the ships await passengers, some of whose flights were re-routed due to the incident at the airport.

With no word on how long the cruise terminal will be closed, the immediate question becomes how ships slated to arrive over the weekend will be impacted. Given that there are ships from Princess, Costa, Carnival, Royal Caribbean and Holland America expected to pass through the terminal over the busy weekend, this has the potential to impact several thousand cruisers.

Check here — and Port Everglades Twitter feed @PortEverglades — for updates. In the meantime, our thoughts and prayers go out to the families of those who found themselves in harm’s way during this horrific tragedy.

Photo: Port Everglades