"We are allowing a limited number of vessels based on size" to attempt to pass, said New Orleans-based Coast Guard spokesman Ryan Tippets, adding that the closure was affecting 97 vessels Monday afternoon and was halting both northbound and southbound traffic.
The U.S. is at last moving in that direction, with the Department of Energy in recent weeks approving the proposal by Cheniere Energy to turn its little-used liquified natural gas import terminal at Sabine Pass on the Louisiana coast into an export terminal.