U.S. Coast Guard Says Will Not Close Ports For Y2K

American ports will not be ordered to close between the end of 1999 and the beginning of the year 2000 because of millennium-related computer failure fears, the U.S. Coast Guard said last week. However, the Coast Guard said it would take steps to assess the ability of individual vessels to operate safely and impose restrictions where there were concerns that computer equipment might fail because of the Y2K date changeover. The shipping industry has been asked by the UN maritime agency the International Maritime Organization (IMO) to work through a preparedness checklist.