With Tropical Storm Bonnie nearing, efforts to dig a relief well remained suspended Friday as the rig involved in the operation and other boats around BP's ruptured Gulf of Mexico well prepared to evacuate.

"Some of the vessels may be able to remain on site, but we will err on the side of safety," retired Coast Guard Adm. Thad Allen said Thursday night.

Allen, who is leading the federal response to the spill, said many of the vessels and rigs began preparing to move Thursday night.

Earlier on Thursday, officials said the departure of the relief well rig would delay work on the operation -- described as the permanent fix to the ruptured well -- for at least 10 days.

Allen said the cap placed over the damaged well in the Gulf of Mexico will remain sealed and continue to stop oil from escaping even if the more than 2,000 people who have been working at the well site are off the water.

The storm could force officials to temporarily scale back efforts to search beneath the surface for leaking oil. But Allen said Thursday that the remote vehicles used to monitor the area will be the last to leave and the first to return.

Sensors and extensive monitoring have allowed observers to "rule out any indications that there might be a leak," Allen said earlier Thursday, noting that his confidence in the integrity of the well had "improved dramatically" after he examined data over the past few days.

Once the storm passes, a plan to pump mud into the well to force oil back into the reservoir below is in the works. BP has Allen's approval to prepare for the "static kill" process, but would still need the government's final go-ahead before proceeding, BP Senior Vice President Kent Wells said.

Meanwhile, officials monitoring the spill say they continue to track the tropical weather and communicate with the Federal Emergency Management Agency, which is ultimately responsible for the safety of the more than 40,000 people currently assisting in recovery and response efforts in the Gulf region.

"The protection of the equipment and crew is paramount to ensure maximum ability to respond to any new challenges a storm may pose to the enormous mission," Rear Adm. Paul Zukunft, the federal on-scene coordinator, said in a news release Thursday.

"We are repositioning assets away from low-lying areas to higher-ground staging areas to protect our ability to respond to the dynamic requirements of the incident," Zukunft said.

Tropical Storm Bonnie is expected to pass the southern tip of Florida on Friday afternoon before making landfall Sunday between New Orleans and southeastern Texas.

At 11 p.m. ET Thursday, it was moving northwest at 14 miles an hour as it approached northwestern Bahamas, according to the National Hurricane Center.

It could pick up strength as it moves over the long stretch of open water in the Gulf of Mexico, but the latest computer models do not show it becoming a hurricane, according to CNN meteorologist Chad Myers.

Forecasters had predicted that it would cross over central Florida, but the models now show it passing farther south, over the Florida Keys or the Straits of Florida and then into the Gulf.

If the storm continues on its path, it could slam into the area of the BP oil spill and possibly put more oil to shore.

The tropical weather system could diminish or erase encouraging signs of recovery from the BP oil spill, according to a scientist who spearheaded the first major examination of the Louisiana coast wetlands.

"Early marsh regrowth could easily be taken away with high winds and waves," said Tom Bianchi, a Texas A&M oceanography professor who has spent his career researching marshes.

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