The Houston Ship Channel remained closed to all traffic due to heavy fog for the second straight day Monday, a Houston Pilots dispatcher said.

“We are still closed,” he said. “We closed at 1:35 am (0735 GMT) Sunday.”

The dispatcher said the forecast remains gloomy.

“It’s not looking too good,” he said. “We may get a small window this afternoon, but it is supposed to get foggy again tonight.”

The dispatcher said about 60 ships — 30 inbound and 30 outbound — had been delayed as of 7:30 am Monday and clearing out the queue could take some time.

“It all depends,” he said. “If we can get open and stay open it could take three or four days to get back to normal.”

The suspension of ship movements in the Houston Ship Channel affects the delivery and loading schedules of crude oil, petroleum and petrochemical products.

The 52-mile ship channel provides access from the Gulf of Mexico through Galveston Bay to various ports in Houston and other cities in the area that have many industrial facilities, including refineries and petrochemical plants.