Alabama, Mississippi, Florida ports watch for spill

HOUSTON (Reuters) - Ports in Alabama, Mississippi and west Florida braced Tuesday for the Gulf of Mexico oil spill but said they do not expect any impact on shipping.

New National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration projections showed oil reaching the Alabama coast by Thursday, and oil was reported threatening Dauphin Island Tuesday.

"We still do not anticipate any problems even with oil approaching our shores," said Judy Adams, spokeswoman for the Alabama State Port Authority at Mobile.

Pascagoula and Gulfport, Mississippi, to the west of Alabama and Penscacola, Florida, to the east also were alert to the possibility but officials said they expected no problems.

The U.S. Coast Guard has promised to keep traffic moving, even if some vessels have to be cleaned. Cleaning stations have been set up or designated from Louisiana to Florida.

Alabama had planned a gated boom system to block the 3-mile-wide entrance to Mobile Bay but gave up on the idea after winds and currents prevented installation of the gate.

Instead, the Mobile Bay entrance has three layers of deflection boom on each side of the ship channel, with the idea of capturing most of any oil as it comes in.

As in Louisiana, other sensitive areas around bays and estuaries in Mississippi, Alabama and Florida were to be boomed off to keep oil out.

Oil has hit Louisiana shores and has had no impact on ships entering the Mississippi River, though one tanker had to be cleaned, officials said.

"If Louisiana hasn't had any commercial shipping traffic detained because of oil, we're not expecting it either," said Adams, spokeswoman for the port at Mobile.

Port officials reported no interference Tuesday with ship traffic due to the spill, which began April 20 with the explosion of a drilling rig offshore of Louisiana.

(Reporting by Bruce Nichols; Editing by Lisa Shumaker)