Thick fog delays shipping and closes the port of Mahon for 3 hours

THICK fog delayed the arrival of various ships in the ports of Ibiza and Formentera yesterday, while the port of Mahon (Minorca) was closed between 5.30 and 8.20am for the same reason, according to sources from Balearic Port Authority. In the case of Mahon, the dense fog made it difficult for ships to enter the port, and because of this the arrival of some ships in this port were delayed by more than three hours. At 8.20am Balearia's ship, the Isla Botafoc (from Barcelona) was able to dock. However, it should have docked at 5.30am (when the port was closed). Trasmediterranea's ship, the Murillo was also able to dock at this time. It had also come from Barcelona and had been due to dock at 6am. The cruise ship, the Silver Cloud, coming from Port Vendres in France, had been due to dock at 8am so did not suffer too much of a delay. In the La Savina port in Formentera, Balearia's ship, the Nixe had also been delayed by the fog, docking some 50 minutes late at 8.50am, according to the same sources. This delay meant that the Nixe, completed the next leg of her journey, (from Formentera to Ibiza) 30 minutes late, docking at 10.30am.