Hurricane Joaquin forced two cruise ships to abandon their trips to Bermuda and put a significant dent in the Island’s container ship schedules.

The ‘Liberty of the Seas’ and ‘Carnival Sunshine’ and their 7,000 passengers were both due at Dockyard yesterday.

But both liners diverted away from the Island before the Category 2 hurricane passed by the Island on Sunday evening.

The ‘Norwegian Breakaway’, which is due to sail into the West End tomorrow, is still expected to arrived on schedule despite the after-effects of the storm. Meanwhile, all three of the container ships that service the Island suffered significant delays as Joaquin passed to the west of Bermuda and then tailed to the north east.

The ‘Oleander’ was held back by 24 hours to avoid the powerful weather system and arrived in Hamilton yesterday evening at just after 7pm.

The ‘Somers Isles’ is expected to arrive at 2pm tomorrow from Fernandina Beach in Florida, six hours behind schedule.

The ‘Bermuda Islander’s’ return to Hamilton has been put back by a full day as a result of Joaquin and is now predicted to dock in the capital at 8am on Friday.