The Alabama Port Authority and APM Terminals, which operates the port’s massive container facility, have launched a $131 million project to add a third berth.
The added berth will allow for handling three ultra-large container vessels at the same time — increasing capacity by 50%. The container facilities will include seven ship-to-shore gantry cranes.
The project is funded by a combination of federal funding and private investment and should be complete in 2026. In launching the project, the port also extended its contract with APM Terminals — a division of A.P. Moller-Maersk — for 20 years, through 2058.
This project follows on the heels of a multi-year, $366 million deepening and widening project that made the port in Mobile the deepest container port on the U.S. Gulf Coast.
Once the new dock is complete, the port will have the capacity to handle 1.4 million TEUs — twenty-foot equivalent units — annually.
“This expansion is about more than infrastructure — it’s about cementing Mobile’s position as the Gulf’s premier container gateway,” said Doug Otto, interim CEO and director of the Alabama Port Authority. “With the channel deepening complete, a new berth underway, the Phase IV expansion in progress and APM Terminals’ continued partnership, we’re connecting businesses across Alabama — and across the nation — to global markets faster and more efficiently than ever before.”
Brian Harold, managing director of APM Terminals Mobile, added, “This new berth is a strategic next step in making sure Mobile stays ahead of the growth curve. As cargo volumes grow, we’re committed to scaling further in full partnership with the Port Authority and our customers.”
