NOAA rule slows port ships

Container ships and the boats carrying harbor pilots to steer them will have to slow down when the nearly extinct right whale could be around, according to a new, hotly opposed federal rule.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration issued the ruling this week after months of criticism from ports officials as well as local U.S. Coast Guard officials.

Local ports officials say slowing down could ruin business. Coast Guard station officials say slower speeds aren't safe in the narrow, windswept channel.

Read more in tomorrow's editions of The Post and Courier.